On Wednesday, the Koregaon Bhima Enquiry Commission issued summons to the chiefs of six political parties in the state of Maharashtra. The commission which is investigating the 1st January 2018 violence near a memorial in Maharashtra’s Pune district has called on the party chiefs to take their suggestions on steps to prevent and tackle the law and order situation in the area in a better manner.
Koregaon Bhima Enquiry Commission has summoned 6 party presidents of Maharashtra & asked them to file an affidavit to the commission before 30th June. They also have to appear for submitting their oral statements before the commission.
— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2022
According to the reports, the summons has been issued to CM Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena, BJP’s Chandrakant Patil, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Prakash Ambedkar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray, Republic Party of India’s Ramdas Athawale, and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole. The commission has asked the party chiefs to file an affidavit before June 30. The Party chiefs have also been asked to appear for submitting their oral statements before the commission.
Koregaon Bhima Enquiry Commission has summoned 6 party presidents of Maharashtra & asked them to file an affidavit to the commission before 30th June. They also have to appear for submitting their oral statements before the commission.
— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2022
This is after the advocate of the commission Ashish Satpute submitted an application to the commission’s chairman Jaynarayan Patel. Satpute in the application stated that it was necessary to consider the suggestions of the party chiefs before deciding on the administrative measures to maintain law and order in the area and avoid the recurrence of such incidents. Satpute also mentioned in the application that prior notices had been sent to all the prominent political parties in the state in the year 2018, but no one had responded except NCP Chief Sharad Pawar.
On May 5, Pawar appeared before the commission and recorded his statement after he was issued a summons by the commission. He filed two affidavits with various suggestions to the commission that had sought his presence in connection with the January 2018 violence. Pawar had also filed an affidavit previously before the commission on October 8, 2018, the year in which the violence took place.
The NCP chief had alleged that the rioting took place when some anti-social elements instigated people for their political mileage. Reportedly, the commission on June 8 has not issued summons to NCP Chief Sharad Pawar as he has already filed an affidavit and has recorded his statement.
It is important to note that the state police on May 5, also discharged Hindutva activist and the founder of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, Sambhaji Bhide stating that there was no evidence against him. The one-page report submitted by the Police to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) said that Bhide’s role was not found in the case, hence his name was dropped.
The Pune police had filed a case against Bhide and others under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and various sections of the IPC for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence. Besides Bhide, another Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote was also booked in the case based on the complaint by Dalit activist Anita Sawale.
The Bhima Koregaon Case-
Violence broke out on January 1, 2018, between different caste groups near the Bhima-Koregoan War memorial near Pune when Dalit activists planned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the 1818 battle of Koregaon-Bhima. One person had died and many others including 10 policemen were injured in the incident. The investigation by Pune Police concluded that it was the provocative speeches at the ‘Elgar Parishad‘ held at Shaniwarwada on December 31, 2017, that triggered the violence. The Pune Police has also ascertained the role of Maoist groups in organizing the Elgar Parishad conclave.
The following day, i.e on January 1, 2018, large scale violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon near Pune, where lakhs of Dalits had gathered to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, won by the British Army against the Peshwas in 1818. The investigation was transferred to the National Investigation Agency in January 2020.
