Last week, the Bombay High Court granted bail to prominent rights activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale in the 2018 Bhiജma Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. The two were arrested on the accusations of being 'urban naxals' and linked to the banned CPI(Maoist) organisation. Of the 16 accused--including Wilson, Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, and activists like Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj--Father Stan Swamy died in custody while many others are out on bail.
As of 2♈025, no cha♌rges have been framed against the accused, and the trial is yet to begin with over 300 witnesses to testify in the case.
Pune police claimed to have found incriminating evidence in Wilson's laptop from suspected Maoists on a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Nar♓endra Modi. A US-based digital forensics firm, Arsenal Consulting, found that Wilson’s laptop was hacked by members of the Pune police and infiltrated by malware.
According to the security agencies, the accused were part of a largerও conspiracy to overthrow the government and were involved in procuring arms, recruiting, and funding Naxal activities.
Here’s the story so far:
On 1 January, the morning of the new year in 2018, violent clashes🍬 broke out in the Koregaon Bhima village near Pune as thousands of Dalit people gathered at the Vijay Stambh- victory pillar to mark the bicentenary celebrations of the Bhima Koregaon battle. Mahars, the formerly untouchable castes fought the historic battle in 1818 on the side of the British forces and defeated the Peshwa troops, thereby officially ending the Maratha confederacy and expansion of💛 the British rule in Maharashtra.
Dalits co💙mmemorate the military victory as a defeat of casteism against Marathas who discriminated and subjugated the Dalits.
The annual celebration escalated into violence as pro-Hindutva groups carrying saffron flags reportedly attacked the largely Da𝕴lit crowd with swords and metal rods. The ��clash led to the death of one person.
The initial FIR filed in Pune alleged Hindutva leaders, Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, led the unruly mob that carried out the violence. A se🎐cond FIR alleged that “leftist groups with Maoist links” had instigated the violence.
In the investigation that followed, the first FIR was sidelined and the Pune police claimed, the violence was spurred by provocative speeches and slogans raised at the Elgar Parishad, a conference held at Shaniwಌarwada—the former seat of Peshwa rulers—on 31 December.
The Parishad was organised by 🎀former judges, civic and social activists along with more than 200 civil society organisations to celebrate the bicentenary anniversary of Bhima Koregaon battle and to fight against oppression. During the event, activists took an oath to♒ defeat the new Peshwai, imposed by upper caste Hindutva ideologues belonging to the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
Prior to the Parishad, the village of Vadhu Budruk near Koregaon Bhima also witnessed caste based tensions and vandalism. Dalit villagers had erected a board pointing to the tomb of Govind Gopal Mahar, who reportedly performed the last rites of Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, whose decimated body was thrown into the Bhima river by Mughal 💧ruler Aurangzeb.
The Marathas, who claim to be descendants of Shivaji’s clan, objected 🔥and pulled down the board asserting that Sambhaji’s last rites were "honourably" performed by Maratha family of Shivale Deshmukhꦬ and not Dalits. Marathas claimed Dalits were distorting history, while Dalits alleged the Marathas were erasing their legacy.
The claims and counterclaims led to violence between the Marathas and the Dalits. The event was one of the trigger poiꦿnt when millions of Dalits gathered at the Koregaon B𝓡hima village a few days later.
However, the police ignored the caste angle and pܫursued the larger left-wing conspiracy based on a fact-finding report by an𝐆 RSS aligned think-tank Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS).
