Jantar Mantar, a place to express anger and dissatisfaction to the government – turned dark blue on Sunday as thousands of Dalits led by the Bhim Army, an organisation fighting for the community’s rights, staged a demonstration against the recent violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Amid chants of “Jai Bhim”, the 30-year-old lawyer, Chandrashekhar who has been evading arrest over his alleged role in protests by Dalits following a clash with Thakurs in UP’s Saharanpur on May 5, said, “Main kayar nahin hun. Meri awaaz aap tak pahunchana tha… isliye abhi tak chup tha. Main ab surrender karoonga (I am not a coward. I wanted to reach you, that is why I remained silent. Now I will surrender to police).”
Chandrashekhar is named in one of the 24 FIRs registered by UP Police for his alleged role in instigating violent protests by Dalits in Saharanpur on May 9. The protests were staged four days after one Thakur man was killed and 25 Dalit homes set ablaze after Dalits in Shabbirpur village objected to loud music being played by Thakurs in a procession to attend a function in honour of Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap.
Chandrashekhar said, “stage is set for struggle” and claimed that many of his supporters could not attend as they stopped by police at Delhi border.
According to UP Police, Chandrashekhar has been absconding since May 10, surfacing only through an audio message that asked supporters to join him at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. As the leader turned up at the venue at 12.15 pm, with protesters wearing blue “Bhim Army” Nehru caps and waving the Tricolour and pictures of B R Ambedkar, he was presented by the organisers with a blue turban, which he refused to wear.
“Ye sarva Dalit sangathan ka manch hai. Ye pagdi tab tak sweekar nahi karoonga, jab tak desh ke bhagwa aatankwad khatam nahi ho jaate (This is a stage for the gathering of all Dalits. I won’t accept the turban until Saffron terrorism is not wiped out),” he said.
Many protesters said that they had gathered at the site without any organised means for mass mobilisation except for social networking sites and WhatsApps groups that publicised the event. However, there were reports of buses were arranged by local leaders for those who came from Saharanpur.
The protestors demanded that cases be registered against those who had perpetrated violence against Dalits on May 5 and affected families be awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
They also demanded that the FIRs lodged against Chandrashekhar and other Dalit activists be cancelled and a judicial probe be initiated into the incident.
A senior official of Delhi police said that though the protest was held without permission, no one was detained because it was peaceful.