india

Updated: Jan 06, 2018 23:43 IST

Dalit rights activist and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and JNU student leader Umar Khalid were not responsible for the violence at Bhima-Koregaon near Pune, said Ramdas Athawale, Union minister of state for social justice and president of Republican Party of India (A).

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Athawale said Mevani may have made provocative statements but that was not the actual reason for the unrest. Tension started after a meeting held by the Marathas at midnight on January 31, he alleged.

Athawale also met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday morning and demanded action against those responsible for the violence in which a 28-year-old man died and also an end to harassment of Dalit youth by the police. The Pune police have booked Mevani and Khalid for allegedly making inflammatory statements at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune’s Shaniwarwada on December 31. The case was registered after a complaint by a 22-year-old student.

“He (Mewani) may have said something provocative but is not responsible for the unrest. Tension between the two communities erupted after a banner — put up by a Dalit youth explaining the history of Govind Mahar, a Dalit farmer who cremated Sambhaji Maharaj’s body against the order of a Mughal emperor— was torn down,” Athawale said.

“The tension was defused after several leaders, including me, intervened. But a meeting by the Marathas took place around midnight on January 31, and the very next day, Dalits, who had come to mark the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, were attacked and vehicles burnt,” he added. When asked about right-wing leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, prime accused for the violence, he said Fadnavis had assured action against the guilty be it Bhide or Ekbote.

Athawale, however, advised Mevani to exercise restraint in his statements. “Don’t provoke youth, instead, start making efforts for unity and social harmony,” the RPI chief said. He also announced a social reconciliation conference in Pune on January 13. He said leaders from all communities will be invited to restore peace. He defended PM Narendra Modi for his silence on the Bhima-Koregaon violence, saying it was not necessary for him to react on every incident. Mevani had taunted Modi for his silence on the incident. Meanwhile, the Congress demanded resignation of Fadnavis over the clashes. Blaming the BJP-led state government, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Saturday said the violence erupted and snowballed because of the failure of the state government.