Bhima-Koregaon case: Prakash Ambedkar demands Bhide's arrest by March 26

Prakash Ambedkar

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar today demanded that the Maharashtra government arrest Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, failing which he will launch a protest. Though Hindu Ekta Aghadi leader Milind Ekbote has been arrested, the government is yet to take Bhide into custody, he said.

A case was registered against Ekbote and Bhide, the head of the right wing outfit Shiv Pratishthan Sansthan, for allegedly inciting the anti-Dalit violence that left a man dead near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district on January 1. The incident took place during an event to commemorate the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle. Subsequent protests had disrupted normal life in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The Pune rural police yesterday arrested Ekbote, after the Supreme Court turned down his anticipatory bail plea. "We give an ultimatum to the government to arrest Bhide till March 26, failing which we will take to the streets," Ambedkar told reporters here.

He also demanded that the judicial commission, set up under retired Justice Jai Narayan Patel, to probe the Bhima-Koregaon violence be disbanded and a sitting judge be appointed to investigate the incident. The new committee should be given powers prescribed under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), he said. He alleged that false cases were filed against those who came out on streets to express anguish over the Bhima-Koregaon violence on January 1. Meanwhile, Ambedkar also demanded that all scholarships of students belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) be given on time.

The income limit of the families of SC/ST/OBC students who seek scholarships should be increased to Rs 5 lakh and for the families of students of economically backward class, it should be raised to Rs 10 lakh, he demanded. Also, the condition of 75 per cent attendance for SC, ST and OBC students to avail the scholarships should be done away with, said the Dalit leader and grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar.

The demands of students of the city-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) should also be addressed urgently, he said. Ambedkar had last week come out in support of the TISS students, who have been protesting against the withdrawal of financial aid provided to them.

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