Maharashtra Bandh: 16 FIRs Registered in Mumbai, Over 300 Detained

The protesters pelted stones at the policemen, halted railway services & blocked roads in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The protesters pelted stones at the policemen, halted railway services and blocked roads and highways in Mumbai on Wednesday. 

(Photo courtesy: ANI)

The Mumbai Police registered 16 FIRs and detained over 300 people in connection with protests by Dalit groups during the day-long bandh on Wednesday against the Bhima Koregaon caste clashes.

Over 30 policemen sustained injuries in the city on Wednesday during the protest called by various Dalit groups, a senior police official told PTI. Most of these injuries were a result of the stones pelted at them by the protesters, the official added.

Police officials said that 16 First Information Reports (FIR) had been registered under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act, the Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, and the Indian Penal Code.

Over 200 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation were damaged in attacks by protesters across the state during the bandh, MSRTC officials said.

According to what the officials told PTI, Powai and Govandi in the north-eastern part of the city saw the maximum number of violent clashes, with 11 policemen reportedly sustaining injuries in areas around Powai.

The bandh was called on Wednesday following violence in Pune district on 1 January when Dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa’s Army.

Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed that soldiers from the Mahar community were part of the East India Company's forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory is seen as a symbol of assertiveness by Dalits.

The battle has come to be seen as a symbol of Dalit pride because a large number of soldiers in the Company force were Mahar Dalits. Since the Peshwas, who were Brahmins, were seen as oppressors of Dalits, the victory of the Mahar soldiers over Peshwa force is seen as Dalit assertion.