2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
Encyclopedia
In November and December 2006, the desecration
of an Ambedkar
statue in Kanpur triggered off violent protest
s by Dalit
s in Maharashtra
, India
.
, allegedly by a mob of Kunbi
s in Kherlanji village in September 2006.
On November 28, 2006, the brewing resentment in the Dalit community in Maharashtra took form of violent protests, when a statue of Dalit
icon B. R. Ambedkar
was desecrated by a vandal in Kanpur. Several people remarked that the protests were fueled by the Khairlanji killings
, including the Maharashtra Chief Minister
Vilasrao Deshmukh
and the Mumbai
Police Commissioner A N Roy.. Later, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
chief Raj Thackeray
claimed that the protests were stoked by certain political parties in their bid to oust Maharashtra
Home Minister R. R. Patil
.
, two persons were killed in police firing on a protesting mob. Two more deaths were reported, one each in Nanded
and Nashik, during the violent protests. Subsequently, a curfew
was imposed in Osmanabad
, Nanded
and Nandurbar
towns of Maharashtra.
In Aurangabad, a crowd of 1,000 Dalit gathered to protest against desecration. Some of the protestors started pelting stones at passing vehicles, injuring six persons, including sub-inspector and a constable. The police resorted to firing in air to disperse the crowd. In Akola, a truck was set on fire on the national highway, and there was heavy stone-pelting on State Transport buses.
Heavy deployment of police forces took place in affected areas. Around 1,500 people were put under preventive arrest and three persons were detained in connection with the lynching of a youth in Nashik. In Akola, the police arrested 14 persons for burning an effigy of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
and Pimpri-Chinchwad
areas, 60 vehicles were damaged and set ablaze by agitators and 13 policemen were injured. A curfew was imposed in Pimpri on November 30. On December 1, a municipal corporation bus was stoned at Bopodi chowk in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
passenger train near Ulhasnagar
, asked the passengers to alight and set afire its five bogies. One compartment of a local train was set ablaze at Matunga
in Mumbai
. There were no injuries. Some compartments of a commuter train were also torched at Ulhasnagar, and the police fired in the air to control the violent crowds. The mob in Ulhasnagar also vandalised the railway station. Suburban train services were affected in parts of Mumbai as protestors squatted on the tracks. Shops and establishments in the city were also closed in view of the protests.
Incidents of protestors setting up road blocks and pelting stones were reported in Mumbai suburbs like Kanjurmarg
, Mulund, Bhandup
, Trombay
, Kurla
, Kalina, Chembur
, Kurar in Malad, Goregaon
, Pali Hill in Bandra, and Worli
. The police reported that gangster Chhota Rajan
's brother Deepak Nikhalje was responsible for violence in Chembur. Police used lathi
charge and fired in the air at Kherwadi junction on the Western Express highway in Vakola, after an angry mob blocked traffic and indulged in stone pelting. In Thane, corporation-run buses were off the road due to stone pelting. A Municipal Transport Corporation bus going from Kalyan to Dombivili was set on fire at Manpada by a violent mob. Protestors also forced owners of shops and establishments to down shutters.
Over 100 buses and 35 private vehicles were damaged in stone pelting. The Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy put the loss at around Rs 30 lakh. BEST
said 91 of its buses were damaged and four drivers and a woman passenger injured in stone pelting. At least 13 policemen, including Additional Commissioner of Police K L Bisnoi, were injured in the protests.
176 people were arrested in Mumbai. The Thane police arrested 19 persons and detained another 29.
. In Surat
(Gujarat), a mob pelted stones and damaged vehicles. Eight persons were arrested in connection with the violence. In Hubli (Karnataka
), activists belonging to various Dalit organizations stoned a dozen city buses.
RPI
vice-president S.R. Darapuri remarked that the desecration of Ambedkar
statue displayed the deep-seated animosity towards Dalits in India. Janata Party
president Subramanian Swamy
claimed that the desecration was the work of "anti-national" elements.
However, later, the Kanpur Police arrested a Dalit youth Arun Kumar Balmiki for desecrating the Ambedkar statue. According to the police, the youth had "admitted to having damaged the statue in a drunken state along with two friends". Earlier in a similar case, a Dalit youth was held for desecrating an Ambedkar statue in Gulbarga
, Karnataka
.
However, some Dalits in Kanpur alleged that the youth was falsely implicated to protect the real culprits. Some Dalits protesting against Balmiki's arrest damaged vehicles and blocked traffic in Kanpur.
Meanwhile, the old descecrated statue in Kanpur was buried with full honors and quickly replaced with a new one.
requested Dalit leaders to maintain calm. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai, A N Roy, requested the state government to declare a holiday on December 6 (Dr. Ambedkar's Mahaparinirvan (Death) Day), but the Government decided against doing so. Deshmukh also called an all-party meeting. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi
also pitched in to settle the issue.
Raj Thackeray
accused the "anti-R. R. Patil
forces" of fueling the riots. He also drew attention to another incident in Khairlanji, in which a Dalit man allegedly raped a girl and killed her. Thackeray demanded action on those responsible for the rape and the subsequent death of the girl, and also remarked that nobody helped the girl's family.
In Kanpur, a Congress delegation, led by former bureaucrat P.L. Punia sat on a dharna (hunger strike
), when the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police prevented them from visiting the site of desecration. RPI
president Ramdas Athawale also reached Kanpur to visit the site of desecration. Earlier, he had said that he will hold protests in Kanpur against the "heinous" act. However, he alleged "house arrest
", after police put him under tight security in a local circuit house in Kanpur.
At the 22nd National Conference of Dalit Writers in New Delhi, the former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
, Mata Prasad declared that the agitation will continue through Dalit literature.
Desecration
Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful or contemptuous treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.-Detail:...
of an Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
statue in Kanpur triggered off violent protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
s by Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
s in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Background
There was resentment among the Dalit in Maharashtra, due to murder of four DalitsKherlanji massacre
The Kherlanji massacre refers to the 2006 lynching-style murders of a Dalit family by members of the politically dominant, but backward Kunbi caste. The killings took place in a small village in India named Khairlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra...
, allegedly by a mob of Kunbi
Kunbi
Kunbi is a generic term applied to castes of traditionally non-elite tillers in Western India. These include the Dhonoje, Ghatole, Hindre, Jadav, Jhare, Khaire, Lewa , Lonari and Tirole communities of Vidharbha. The communities are largely found in the state of Maharashtra but also exist in the...
s in Kherlanji village in September 2006.
On November 28, 2006, the brewing resentment in the Dalit community in Maharashtra took form of violent protests, when a statue of Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
icon B. R. Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
was desecrated by a vandal in Kanpur. Several people remarked that the protests were fueled by the Khairlanji killings
Kherlanji massacre
The Kherlanji massacre refers to the 2006 lynching-style murders of a Dalit family by members of the politically dominant, but backward Kunbi caste. The killings took place in a small village in India named Khairlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra...
, including the Maharashtra Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh , popularly known as Vilasrao is the current Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences....
and the Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
Police Commissioner A N Roy.. Later, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
chief Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray
Raj Shrikant Thackeray is the founder and president of the right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the state of Maharashtra, India...
claimed that the protests were stoked by certain political parties in their bid to oust Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
Home Minister R. R. Patil
R. R. Patil
Raosaheb Ramrao Patil, better known as R. R. Patil , is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He is a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party. He became Home Minister of Maharashtra for the second time after the 2009 Maharashtra assembly election victory of the Congress-NCP alliance...
.
Protests
On November 30, 2006 violent protests took place in several places in Maharashtra. The Dalit protestors set three trains on fire, damaged over 100 buses and clashed with police.North Maharashtra
In OsmanabadOsmanabad
Osmanabad is a city and a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:The city of Osmanabad is located at . It has an average elevation of 647 metres ....
, two persons were killed in police firing on a protesting mob. Two more deaths were reported, one each in Nanded
Nanded
Nanded is the second largest city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India. It is also headquarters of Nanded district in the Marathwada Division of the state. It is an important holy place for the Sikh faith and is famous for the Hazur Sahib Gurudwara. It is the district headquarters once...
and Nashik, during the violent protests. Subsequently, a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
was imposed in Osmanabad
Osmanabad
Osmanabad is a city and a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:The city of Osmanabad is located at . It has an average elevation of 647 metres ....
, Nanded
Nanded
Nanded is the second largest city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India. It is also headquarters of Nanded district in the Marathwada Division of the state. It is an important holy place for the Sikh faith and is famous for the Hazur Sahib Gurudwara. It is the district headquarters once...
and Nandurbar
Nandurbar
Nandurbar is a city and a municipal council in Nandurbar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It came into limelight during February 2006 Bird Flu crisis which struck many of its poultry farms. Thousand of chickens from the farms had to be killed and buried in nearby grounds to stop the...
towns of Maharashtra.
In Aurangabad, a crowd of 1,000 Dalit gathered to protest against desecration. Some of the protestors started pelting stones at passing vehicles, injuring six persons, including sub-inspector and a constable. The police resorted to firing in air to disperse the crowd. In Akola, a truck was set on fire on the national highway, and there was heavy stone-pelting on State Transport buses.
Heavy deployment of police forces took place in affected areas. Around 1,500 people were put under preventive arrest and three persons were detained in connection with the lynching of a youth in Nashik. In Akola, the police arrested 14 persons for burning an effigy of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Pune District
In PunePune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
and Pimpri-Chinchwad
Pimpri-Chinchwad
Pimpri-Chinchwad is a city in the Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It consists of the twin towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad which are governed by a common municipal body...
areas, 60 vehicles were damaged and set ablaze by agitators and 13 policemen were injured. A curfew was imposed in Pimpri on November 30. On December 1, a municipal corporation bus was stoned at Bopodi chowk in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Mumbai and its neighborhoods
On November 30, a mob of over 6000 protestors stopped the Deccan QueenDeccan Queen
The Deccan Queen डेक्कन क्वीन or Deccan Queen Express, , is an Indian passenger train that connects Mumbai with Pune. It is a daily means of transport for thousands of passengers travelling between the two cities...
passenger train near Ulhasnagar
Ulhasnagar
Ulhasnagar Ulhasnagar, also referred to as Sindhunagar, has an estimated population of 472,943 people .The name derives from the Ulhas river which flows through it. Kalyan is situated near Ulhasnagar. The city is home to many types of businesses....
, asked the passengers to alight and set afire its five bogies. One compartment of a local train was set ablaze at Matunga
Matunga
Matunga is a district located in the central part of Mumbai. It is a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. This station is called Matunga on the Central railway line, Matunga Road on the Western line and King's Circle, on the Harbour Line...
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. There were no injuries. Some compartments of a commuter train were also torched at Ulhasnagar, and the police fired in the air to control the violent crowds. The mob in Ulhasnagar also vandalised the railway station. Suburban train services were affected in parts of Mumbai as protestors squatted on the tracks. Shops and establishments in the city were also closed in view of the protests.
Incidents of protestors setting up road blocks and pelting stones were reported in Mumbai suburbs like Kanjurmarg
Kanjurmarg
Kanjur Marg is a suburb in east central Mumbai. Kanjurmarg railway station is the main access point for IIT Bombay, KV POWAI, NITIE, Hiranandani Gardens, and other locations in Powai...
, Mulund, Bhandup
Bhandup
Bhandup is a suburb of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, in the state of Maharashtra, India and is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Central Railway line....
, Trombay
Trombay
Trombay is a northeastern suburb in Mumbai, India, with Mankhurd as the closest railway station on the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.-History:...
, Kurla
Kurla
Kurla is a suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of one the busiest railway stations on the Mumbai suburban railway on the central and harbour railway lines of Mumbai...
, Kalina, Chembur
Chembur
Chembur is a suburban neighbourhood in eastern Mumbai, India. It is 22 km from downtown Mumbai and 20 km from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport...
, Kurar in Malad, Goregaon
Goregaon
Goregaon is the locality situated at the north of Mumbai . It is a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line....
, Pali Hill in Bandra, and Worli
Worli
-History:Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. Although primarily a fishing village, the Worli Fort, a British fort that is now in ruins, is located there. Its original resident was the legendary Dishankeshwar Kalsi who has also been recognized in several...
. The police reported that gangster Chhota Rajan
Chhota Rajan
Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in India. He is a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan . Chhota Rajan took over the reins of Bada Rajan's...
's brother Deepak Nikhalje was responsible for violence in Chembur. Police used lathi
Lathi
Lathi means stick and also refers to an Indian martial art based on cane-fighting. The word is used in Hindi, Bengali and various other Indian languages. The lathi typically measures 6 to and may be tipped with metal. It commonly used as a crowd control device by the Indian Police and other South...
charge and fired in the air at Kherwadi junction on the Western Express highway in Vakola, after an angry mob blocked traffic and indulged in stone pelting. In Thane, corporation-run buses were off the road due to stone pelting. A Municipal Transport Corporation bus going from Kalyan to Dombivili was set on fire at Manpada by a violent mob. Protestors also forced owners of shops and establishments to down shutters.
Over 100 buses and 35 private vehicles were damaged in stone pelting. The Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy put the loss at around Rs 30 lakh. BEST
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
The BEST ) is Mumbai's public transport service and electricity provider....
said 91 of its buses were damaged and four drivers and a woman passenger injured in stone pelting. At least 13 policemen, including Additional Commissioner of Police K L Bisnoi, were injured in the protests.
176 people were arrested in Mumbai. The Thane police arrested 19 persons and detained another 29.
Outside Maharashtra
The protests also spread to some parts of Maharashtra's neighboring states, Gujarat and KarnatakaKarnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. In Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
(Gujarat), a mob pelted stones and damaged vehicles. Eight persons were arrested in connection with the violence. In Hubli (Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
), activists belonging to various Dalit organizations stoned a dozen city buses.
Arrest of the vandal
Many Dalit leaders, including the UPUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
RPI
Republican Party of India
The Republican Party of India is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by Dr. Ambedkar. The main base of RPI has traditionally been in Maharashtra....
vice-president S.R. Darapuri remarked that the desecration of Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
statue displayed the deep-seated animosity towards Dalits in India. Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
president Subramanian Swamy
Subramanian Swamy
Subramanian Swamy is an Indian politician, academician, and an economist and presently the President of the Janata Party of India.-Early life and education:...
claimed that the desecration was the work of "anti-national" elements.
However, later, the Kanpur Police arrested a Dalit youth Arun Kumar Balmiki for desecrating the Ambedkar statue. According to the police, the youth had "admitted to having damaged the statue in a drunken state along with two friends". Earlier in a similar case, a Dalit youth was held for desecrating an Ambedkar statue in Gulbarga
Gulbarga
Gulbarga is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Gulbarga District. It was formerly part of Nizam's Hyderabad state...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.
However, some Dalits in Kanpur alleged that the youth was falsely implicated to protect the real culprits. Some Dalits protesting against Balmiki's arrest damaged vehicles and blocked traffic in Kanpur.
Meanwhile, the old descecrated statue in Kanpur was buried with full honors and quickly replaced with a new one.
Political fallout
The Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao DeshmukhVilasrao Deshmukh
Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh , popularly known as Vilasrao is the current Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences....
requested Dalit leaders to maintain calm. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai, A N Roy, requested the state government to declare a holiday on December 6 (Dr. Ambedkar's Mahaparinirvan (Death) Day), but the Government decided against doing so. Deshmukh also called an all-party meeting. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
also pitched in to settle the issue.
Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray
Raj Shrikant Thackeray is the founder and president of the right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the state of Maharashtra, India...
accused the "anti-R. R. Patil
R. R. Patil
Raosaheb Ramrao Patil, better known as R. R. Patil , is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He is a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party. He became Home Minister of Maharashtra for the second time after the 2009 Maharashtra assembly election victory of the Congress-NCP alliance...
forces" of fueling the riots. He also drew attention to another incident in Khairlanji, in which a Dalit man allegedly raped a girl and killed her. Thackeray demanded action on those responsible for the rape and the subsequent death of the girl, and also remarked that nobody helped the girl's family.
In Kanpur, a Congress delegation, led by former bureaucrat P.L. Punia sat on a dharna (hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
), when the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police prevented them from visiting the site of desecration. RPI
Republican Party of India
The Republican Party of India is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by Dr. Ambedkar. The main base of RPI has traditionally been in Maharashtra....
president Ramdas Athawale also reached Kanpur to visit the site of desecration. Earlier, he had said that he will hold protests in Kanpur against the "heinous" act. However, he alleged "house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
", after police put him under tight security in a local circuit house in Kanpur.
At the 22nd National Conference of Dalit Writers in New Delhi, the former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
, Mata Prasad declared that the agitation will continue through Dalit literature.
External links
- Maharashtra Burning on the anti-caste