Gaikwad

Vadhu Tulapur

Bhima Koregaon

Rahul Fatangale

Shikrapur

The 200th year anniversary celebrations of the historic Battle of Koregaon Bhima turned into a nightmare on Monday at the village some 30 kilometres north east of Pune, when clashes between two groups led to rioting, leaving one dead, a handful of individuals injured, and several vehicles damaged.It reportedly began when a group toting saffron flags began pelting stones, days after the tombstone of local Dalit hero Govindwas vandalised, leading to clashes with groups toting blue flags.Since Sunday evening, crowds had started gathering near the ‘vijayastambh’ (victory pillar) at Koregaon Bhima, with thousands present at the location by Monday morning. People were visiting to commemorate the battle, in which the British East India Company, with troops comprising mostly Mahar soldiers, faced off against the Brahmin Peshwa-led Maratha Empire in 1818.Lakhs gather here every year on this day, and there was song and dance in the air till around 10.30 am. One villager told Mirror, “Like every year, we were all set to welcome our visitors. Around 10 am, we saw a protest march headed towards the vijaystambh. Suddenly, stone pelting began out of nowhere.”The protest had been sparked by the vandalisation of Gaikwad’s tombstone on Friday — a wrestler famed in history, Gaikwad is noted as the person who performed the last rites of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, after the latter was murdered by Aurangzeb’s soldiers. Sambhaji was reportedly tortured and cut into pieces, leaving no one ready to perform his last rites for fear of the Mughal king. However, Gaikwad is believed to have stepped in, stitched the body back together, and performed the last rites. As a result, his tombstone has been built opposite Sambhaji’s inAfter this same structure was left damaged last week, cases of atrocity were filed against 41 residents of Vadhu Tulapur village, leading to another community protesting against this legal action.A few villagers, on the condition of anonymity, insisted that people from the Maratha community were objecting to the atrocity cases filed; this eventually lead to an altercation with a number of Dalit activists who happened to be visitingNow, Section 144 (unlawful assembly) of the Criminal Procedure Code has been implemented across the district by the collector.As Monday’s altercation began, a villager shared, “We just saw fires suddenly break out at a number of places, with many vehicles burning. The vehicles of visitors parked around were also attacked.”Cops rushed to the spot, blocking both sides and trying to bring the situation under control. However, despite an effort lasting for four long hours, they failed to stop stone pelting immediately. The inflamed crowds kept shouting slogans and continuing to run wild. Finally, around 2 pm, the police resorted to lathicharge and fired rounds in the air, and the situation was reigned in after five hours around 3 pm.Eyewitness Sunil Sonawne said, “People were standing on the roofs of homes and pelting stones at us. We didn’t know who they were. But, in reaction, those standing downstairs started responding, too.”Aperson namedwas reported to have died in this violence; one more person was seriously injured, while four others were hurt, too.Many people had to take damaged vehicles back home. Said Vijay Shirke, “When I went back to my car, I saw that the front and rear glass windows were broken. I had to drive back that way. But, I am just glad none of my family was near the car when the stone pelting took place. I saw hundreds of vehicles in the same condition.” A hotel on the main road was also vandalised.State minister for social justice, Dilip Kamble, said, “We are requesting the public to maintain peace. Reactions will not help at this time. I am constantly speaking with the chief minister and we have called for an additional force on ground. We will ensure that the situation remains under control.”A police sub inspector ofpolice station told Mirror, “We are trying to gather data on how much damage has occurred.Based on this, we will register the offences.” Meanwhile, since vehicles and people were stopped from crossing over between Bhima Koregaon and Perne, the situation at the vijayastambh stayed calm.