Saharanpur violence: Dalits defy Delhi Police ban to protest at Jantar Mantar
The capital’s
favourite protest venue - Jantar Mantar – turned blue on Sunday as thousands of
Dalits led by the Bhim Army, an organisation fighting for the community’s
rights, staged a demonstration against the recent violence in Saharanpur in
Uttar Pradesh. Despite being denied
permission by Delhi Police to hold a rally, protesters dressed in blue gathered
on the call of Bhim Army Ekta Mission, led by 30-year-old lawyer Chandrashekhar
to fight against “oppression” by upper castes.
Cries of Jai Bhim rent
the air at Jantar Mantar as several smaller organisations such as Dalit
Sangarsh Morcha, Yuva Shakti Dal and youths from different parts of Western UP
and Delhi also showed up to lend their support. The protest comes after
the recent violence involving Dalits and Thakurs in Saharanpur during the birth
anniversary celebrations of Maharana Pratap. The skirmish took place on May 5,
when a mob, allegedly from the Thakur community, ransacked and burned down 25
houses belonging to Dalits, and injured 15 members of the community in
Saharanpur.
Chandrashekhar, who is
wanted for his alleged involvement in the clashes between the police and the
protesters on May 9, also addressed the gathering. “We have come here to fight
oppression. If you kill one Chandrashekhar, thousands more will rise. The RSS
and Hindu right organisations have been oppressing us for centuries, but we are
not weak,” he said. He also gave out phone
numbers to protesters to call for help if they were being oppressed. He also
said he was willing to surrender to police.
Many protesters said
that they had gathered at the site without any organised means for mass
mobilisation except for social networking sites and WhatsApps groups that
publicised the event. However, there were reports of buses were arranged by
local leaders for those who came from Saharanpur. Sonu Paliwal, 28, a
resident of Shimlana village in Saharanpur, said, “We are here because there
had been repeated incidents of violence against Dalits. The administration in
Saharanpur allows the Rajputs to hold march on Maharana Pratap Jayanti but
Dalits are not allowed to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti.”
The protestors
demanded that cases be registered against those who had perpetrated violence
against Dalits on May 5 and affected families be awarded a compensation of Rs
10 lakh. They also demanded
that the FIRs lodged against Chandrashekhar and other Dalit activists be
cancelled and a judicial probe be initiated into the incident. Several protesters
held posters and banners decrying upper castes while many wore wearing shirts
and caps with BR Ambedkar’s photo printed over them.
Ravi Prakash, convener
of Dalit Sangharsh Morcha, said, “The Yogi Adityanath government in UP cares
more about cows than Dalits. We are not against cow protection but it is human
beings whose lives should be protected first. Our brothers in villages of UP
live under fear but we will not tolerate it anymore.” “We want to show to
the government that we can unite and we can fight for our rights,” he said. A senior official of
Delhi police said that though the protest was held without permission, no one
was detained because it was peaceful.
