We celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, weren’t part of procession, say Dalit families of Saharanpur village
Saharanpur: After an Ambedkar Jayantiprocession on April 20 led to a communal riot, the first under new regime in UP, in which dozens were injured and the house of a senior superintendent of police was attacked by a mob allegedly led by local MP, Dalit residents of Sadak Dudhali village have said they had already celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 and were not aware of the procession on April 20. Moreover, the organizer of the procession, one Ashok Bharti, was not from the village and nobody knows where he turned up from.
Chandra Pal, a 55-year-old villager who works in Army’s Remount Depot, told TOI, “As we celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti every year at Ambedkar Bhawan in our village, this year too, we observed it on April 14. We offered a havan-yagya in the morning and distributed ‘prasad’ to everyone present on the occasion. On Ambedkar Jayanti, no procession was ever held in our village.”
Pal added, “Until a decade ago, we carried out a procession on Ravidas Jayanti every year. Our Muslim friends not only donated money but also provided us their bullock-carts and tractor-trolleys happily to install tableaux. The procession took a round of the village and a bhandara (feast) was held. Muslims, including their women and children, participated in it. But those days are gone now.”
Jahangir Ahmed, 45, and his 20-year-old son Niyaz Ahmad confirmed what Pal had said about processions in the village.
Arvind Kumar, another villager, said, “We were not informed about any procession to be carried out in the name of Ambedkar. Around 80 families from schedule castes live at the northern end of the village. None of us were aware of any procession, despite the fact the procession was supposed to be ended at Ambedkar Bhawan located near our houses. Besides, why was the procession carried out when we had already observed Ambedkar Jayanti?”
Samajwadi Party MLA from Saharanpur City constituency seat, Sanjay Garg, told TOI, “Civic body elections are around the corner and after the latest delimitation, Sadak Dudhali village has been included under the municipal corporation area. It was nothing but a highly condemnable attempt of the BJP to lure Dalit voters.”
Sudhir Kumar, representative of local BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma, told TOI, “Holding any peaceful procession is our constitutional right. We had requested the district administration for the same. On that day, everything was on its way and almost 80% of the procession had been completed peacefully when some anti-social elements from a particular community started pelting stones. As far as the allegation of instigating the people gathered over there is concerned, our MP only expressed the feelings of our workers in a dignified manner. We peacefully reached the SSP’s residence to stage our protest. Those vadalised nameplates and CCTV cameras were not our people, but some anti-social elements who should be identified and punished.”
Source: The Times of India
