Police baton-charge Warkari devotees in Pune, government refutes allegations

The Maharashtra Police and devotees of the Warkari sect got into an altercation in Pune on Sunday, reported NDTV. The Opposition parties have claimed that the Warkaris, devotees of Hindu deity Vithoba, were baton-charged by the police – as can be seen in a video. However, the police and government have denied the charges.

The incident took place when the devotees were trying to enter the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Samadhi temple in Alandi town during the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage to Pandharpur, reported PTI.

Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey said that the police were allowing devotees to enter the temple in batches of 75, but some of them breached the barricades and tried to jump the queue.

“There was an altercation when police tried to stop them [those forcibly entering the temple],” Choubey said, refuting allegations of baton-charge.

Opposition parties have, however, targeted the government on the incident.

“The pretensions of the Hindutva government have been exposed,” tweeted Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut. “The mask fell off. How was Aurangzeb behaving differently? Mughals have reincarnated in Maharashtra.”

Nationalist Congress Party MLA Chhagan Bhujbal described the incident as outrageous. “This insult to the Warkaris in the presence of the great saint Dnyaneshwar Maharaj, who laid the foundation of the Warkari sect, is highly condemnable,” he tweeted. “Does the government have any responsibility towards Warkari sect or not?”

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also handles the home ministry, denied the allegations of baton charge and called the incident a “minor scuffle”.

“We learned from the last year’s stampede-like situation at the same place [Alandi] and tried giving fewer entry passes to various groups,” Fadnavis told NDTV. “It was decided to issue 75 passes to each group that participate in the pilgrimage.