One dead as violence hits Bhima Koregaon event marking 200th anniversary of Mahars' victory over Peshwas

Pune: The event to mark 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune district, in which forces of the East India Company defeated Peshwa’s army, was marred by incidents of violence today, with at least one person getting killed. Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed that soldiers from the Mahar community — then considered untouchable — were part of the East India Company’s forces. However, some right-wing groups in Pune had expressed opposition to celebration of the `British’ victory. Incidents of stone-pelting and vandalism occurred at Bhima Koregaon in Shiroor tehsil on Monday afternoon when people were heading for the war memorial in the village, police said. A man died in the violence, a top police official told PTI late in the evening. However, his identity and how exactly he died was not known yet, the officer said. The violence erupted after a local group and some members of the crowd on its way to the memorial had an argument over some issue. “Stone-pelting started after the argument. During the violence, some vehicles and a house in the vicinity were damaged,” a police officer deployed for security at Bhima Koregaon said without elaborating. He said the police stopped traffic on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway for sometime following the incident. The situation in the village is under control now, he said. [caption id=“attachment_4283463” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Violence hit Maharashtra"s Bhima Koregaon on Monday. Twitter @nishadwankhade[/caption] “More police personnel, including companies of the State Reserve Police Force, have been deployed,” the officer said. He said mobile phone networks were also blocked for some time to stop circulation of inflammatory messages. The battle of Bhima Koregaon was fought on 1 January, 1818. Some Dalit leaders and thinkers view its outcome as a victory of oppressed classes over the upper-caste establishment of those times. Earlier in the day, dalit leader and independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani visited the war memorial in the village. Mevani had also attended `Elgaar Parishad’ held in Pune to commemorate the battle on Sunday. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale demanded police protection for dalits in the wake of today’s violence. “Dalit groups visiting Bhima Koregaon were stopped at Sanaswadi near Koregaon. Stones were hurled at them. No police force was available for their protection,” Athawale said in a statement. He appealed to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to deploy additional police force in the village and provide protection to the members of local Dalit community. Click here for LIVE updates on Maratha-Dalit clashes