Former members of Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellowship on Friday defended activist Mahesh Raut, who was arrested by Pune Police earlier this week in connection with an event to commemorate the Battle of Bhima Koregaon on December 31 in Maharashtra.
Raut served as a Prime Minister of Rural Development Fellow in Gadchiroli district. He is one of the conveners of the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vilas Andolan, a national organisation that fights the displacement of marginalised communities, and also a member of the Bharat Jan Andolan, a human rights NGO.
Police officials have claimed that the Bhima Koregaon violence on January 1 was incited by the speeches of Dalit rights activists at an “Elgar Parishad” event held in Pune a day before, and that this event was funded by banned Maoist outfits.
The former fellows of PMRD said Raut had neither attended the Elgar Parishad nor was he part of the organising committee. They claimed Raut’s house was raided following an FIR that was registered on January 8.
“It’s a pertinent question to ask how Mahesh has been named as an accused in this case,” a statement released by the group said. “Neither was he named in the primary chargesheet nor was there any order from the competent court to search his premises. All the action against Mahesh is solely based on a complaint from a private individual.”
The statement mentioned that police had been harassing Raut since 2013 and his passport was recently confiscated. “Raids on his house and detention had become very common for him in last few months because of his tireless work with Bharat Jan Andolan,” the statement added.
The group said that Raut’s arrest was wrongful on many accounts. “We see this hasty police action as the state government’s response to increasing exertion of oppressed class against sustained caste atrocities in the state,” the statement said.
On New Year’s Day, lakhs of Dalits from across India had gathered at the town of Bhima Koregaon, 30 km from Pune, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of a battle in which a British force that included Dalit soldiers from the Mahar caste defeated an army of the Peshwa rulers, who were known for enforcing rigid caste segregation.
To mark the battle, a coalition of 260 non-profit organisations had held an event called Elgar Parishad the previous day at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada, featuring speakers such as politicians Prakash Ambedkar and Jignesh Mevani and Dalit rights activist Radhika Vemula. On January 1, clashes broke out in and around Bhima Koregaon. Dalits claimed they had been attacked by people with saffron flags, while Marathas claimed they had been attacked by Dalits. As Dalit protests spread across the state, one person was killed in the violence.
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