Chandra Shekhar Aazad injured in shooting: Who is the Bhim Army chief?

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad was injured in a shooting on Wednesday. The Dalit leader, who is also chief of Aazad Samaj Party, was leaving a supporter’s home in Deoband when two unidentified assailants opened fire on his car. But who is Aazad? What do we know about the incident? Let’s take a closer look: Early years According to The Times of India, Aazad was born in 1986. Aazad, a follower of BR Ambedkar, comes from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghadkhauli village. Azad’s father, Govardhan Das, was a principal of a government school. Aazad told The Quint that his father was discriminated against for years. “My father was a headmaster, but he was frequently humiliated in meetings. In the staff room, his glass of water was kept separate from the other teachers_._ He told me of hundreds of such instances that he didn’t share earlier because he didn’t want us to think that we were less than anyone.” As per The Times of India, Azad in 2014 founded Bhim Army alongside Satish Kumar and Vinay Ratan Singh. The group seeks to empower and emancipate Dalits through education and runs free schools in Uttar Pradesh. “The Dalits of Chhutmalpur are educated and united,” Satish told The Quint, “So when Chandrashekhar said he wanted to set up an organisation, we decided to help him.” According to The Quint, the Bhim Army first brushed up against the authorities in August 2015 when some Dalit students of a Rajput-run college alleged discrimination. “Thakur boys would force us to sweep the classrooms,” Ankit Kumar told the outlet, “After games period, the Thakurs would always drink water first, and the Dalits would drink last.” The Bhim Army turned up and sorted out the matter. “If they hit two of our boys, we hit four of theirs and the matter was resolved,” Satish Kumar told the outlet. Rise to fame According to Indian Express, Aazad first gained fame in 2016 when some Dalit villagers erected a board at the entrance of Ghadkauli village. The board stated: “Da Great Chamar, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Village, Ghadkauli, Welcomes You”. The board was blackened after Thakurs objected to the words ‘Da Great’. The Bhim Army intervened and the board was put up again after days of uproar including stone-pelting on police and lathicharge against Dalits. In May 2017, Aazad yet again was in the spotlight after Dalit-Rajput clashes in Saharanpur left one man dead and 25 homes burned after a procession to commemorate Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap. The police named Aazad as an accused in two dozen FIRs for allegedly stoking the protests. The Bhim Army in May 2017 also carried out a massive protest rally in Delhi – which firmed up his popularity as a Dalit leader. This fellow has some substance. He is physically strong and speaks well. Have you seen his moustache and the way he keeps twirling it… More importantly, he is not afraid of anyone. Did you see how, despite being denied permission, he organised such a big rally in Delhi? This is the kind of leader we need,” two youths from a village in Saharanpur told the newspaper in 2018. According to The Times of India, Aazad was then arrested in June 2017. The Uttar Pradesh government then slapped provisions of the National Security Act against Aazad. The Bhim Army chief was held for more than a year before eventually being release in September 2018. In 2019, Aazad claimed he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Indian Express, while Aazad earlier called himself ‘Ravan’ he dropped this moniker in 2019. He explained that he did not wish the Opposition to tell voters to ‘choose between Ram and Ravan’. As per The Times of India, Aazad eventually decided not run for the polls in 2019. Instead, he announced that the Bhim Army would support the SP-BSP alliance and called for the Dalit vote to stay intact to defeat the BJP. As per The Print, Aazad in 2019 was arrested from Jama Masjid during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Aazadd was charged with under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Sent to judicial custody after his arrest, Aazad received bail in January 2020. In 2020, Aazad founded the Aazad Samaj Party. What do we know about the incident?  According to India Today, the police have detained four people in connection with the shooting. The police have also recovered the car used in the attack. [caption id=“attachment_12803902” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Chandra Shekhar Aazad was injured in the attack. News18[/caption] Aazad was in a Toyota Fortuner with four others including his brother when the attack occured. Hindustan Times reported that Aazad told the police his people had “identified” the assailants. “Their car went towards Saharanpur. We took a U-Turn. Five of us, including my younger brother, were in the car when the incident occurred.” As per The Wire, Aazad’s Facebook account, sharing photographs of the Bhim Army chief, demanded that the police take ‘strict action’ against the perpetrators. The account also demanded the police provide Aazad security. “The murderous attack on Bhim Army Chief and National President Bhai Chandrashekhar Azad in Deoband, Saharanpur is a cowardly act to stop the Bahujan Mission Movement! Immediate arrest of the accused, strict action and National President Bhai Chandrashekhar Azad ji demands security!” the Facebook post stated. Police said Aazad had gone to attend a ‘terhavin’ ritual at a supporter’s home Saharanpur district’s Deoband. The assailants fired multiple shots at his SUV when he was leaving.

“The assailants were in a car and opened fire on Azad’s SUV from the right side. A bullet grazed his abdomen. He has been admitted to a hospital and his condition is stable,” Superintendent of Police (City) Abimanyu Manglik said.

SP slams state govt The Samajwadi Party hit out at the state government over the incident, questioning the law and order situation under the BJP rule. “The murderous attack on Chandrashekhar Azad, National President of Azad Samaj Party in Deoband, Saharanpur, by criminals protected by power is highly condemnable and cowardly act. When people’s representatives are not safe under the BJP rule, then what will happen to the general public? Jungle Raj in UP!” SP president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi. Senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav tweeted the morale of criminals in the state is so high that they “have started breaking all their limits”. “The opposition in Uttar Pradesh is now the target of both the government and the criminals,” he said in a tweet in Hindu. He said the “deadly attack” on the Bhim Army chief is a commentary on the law and order situation in the state. “Wake up government!”