Mumbai: On January 2, 2018, a day after a violent mob attack on Dalit community members visiting Bhima Koregaon, anti-caste activist Anita Sawale had filed a case accusing Samasta Hindu Aghadi president and Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote and Shiv Prathistan Hindustan leader Sambhaji Bhide as the “masterminds” of the attack.
Even amid tremendous pressure to withdraw the case and a threat to her life, Sawale has doggedly followed up with the police and demanded a swift investigation in the case. When the police failed in their duty, she even moved the Bombay high court demanding accountability. But two years and nine months later, she says, she has lost every hope for concrete action against the accused.
Meanwhile, the Shikrapur police, which is in charge of the case, told media that they have already completed their investigation but the file has been long pending with the director-general of police’s (DGP’s) office for mandatory sanctions for prosecution. “Since the accused have been booked under Sections 153 (B) and 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, we have sent the report to the DGP’s office a few months ago. But we haven’t heard from them yet,” Shikrapur police inspector Sadashiv Shelar said.
While Section 153 (B) of the IPC stands for imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration, Section 295 (A) is applied against those accused of “destruction, damage, or defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred, with intent to insult the religion of a class of persons”. The duo, along with other members of their organisations, had also been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Shelar further added that even after the DGP’s office approves it, the report will have to be further sent to the home department and only when they get approval will the police be able to file a chargesheet in the case.
On January 1, 2018, like always, Sawale had visited Bhima Koregaon, 30 km north-east of Pune. It was the 200th anniversary of a historic battle won by the British Army in 1818 largely comprised of soldiers from the Dalit community against the Peshwa regime ruled by the Brahmin King Baji Rao II. The third Anglo-Maratha war, of which the Battle of Bhima Koregaon was a part, helped the British establish their rule in large parts of Western India. For the Dalit community, however, this history is crucial to their struggle against untouchability.
“I had witnessed the violence up close. People all around me were being beaten up, were soaked in blood. Our vehicles were burnt and the attackers were openly chanting slogans hailing their leaders Bhide and Ekbote. My complaint mentions all of this very clearly. But the police tried every bit to delay the investigation in the case,” she alleges. Sawale’s exasperation stems from the amount of time and resources she and her lawyers have had to spend in making even small progress in the case. Until March 2018, the police had not taken any action in the case. But when the Supreme Court refused to grant him pre-arrest bail, the police were compelled to take Ekbote in.–Agencies
