NEW DELHI – India’s low-caste Dalit community were celebrating memorial ofa 200-year-old British military victory, which ended up in mass protests inthe state of Maharashtra.
Hundreds of Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, blocked roads and trainlines attacking buses disrupting transportation and closure of schools andshops, reported the Guardian.
The protests emerged when Hindu nationalist groups killed a teenager in adisruption during the commemoration of the 200-year-old victory.
An estimated 300,000 Dalits gathered in the village of Bhima Koregaon inMaharashtra to celebrate the 1818 victory of the British East India Companyover the Peshwas, a faction of the Hindu Maratha Empire that ruled mostparts of the subcontinent before the arrival of the British.
The battle involved hundreds of Dalit fighting on the side of the British,with almost 900 soldiers that deterred Peshwa forces estimated to be almost20,000.
In Hindu caste system, Dalits occupies the lowest place suffering forthousands of years of exclusion and extreme poverty. In order to responseto the mistreatment by the hands of the high-caste Peshwa rulers, Dailtssided with the British. The members of the Dalit community consider thebattle one of the historical moment of self-assertion.
The 200th anniversary turned violent when Dalit activists allege members oftwo Hindu nationalist groups attacked processions near an obelisk installedby the British commemorating the battle.
The clashes between the two groups has so far taken life of a man, anddozens of cars were set ablaze.
At least 100 Dalits have been arrested with protests quickly spread acrossthe city of Mumbai drawing national media attention.In one of the centre for protests, an activist stated that police had beentrying to shut down the demonstrations in a “brutal” fashion.
“They attacked us with lathis [clubs],” the young man identifying himselfas Sumit said. “I have a mark here on my back from last night.”
There were reports of journalists being attacked and vocal anger towardsthe media, whom one protester accused of ignoring violence against Dalitsand being “sold to politicians”.
“Our women and small children were attacked in Bhima Koregaon and inMumbai,” said the demonstrator, Rajesh. “Why don’t they talk about that?”
Fleets of protesters on motorbikes were also seen roaming the empty streetsof Mumbai shouting “Jai Bhim”, a Dalit protest slogan.Order began to return to the city, after one of the key Dalit leader,Prakash Ambedkar, called for an end to the protests.
The Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has asked for a judicialinquiry into Monday’s violence.
Caste was officially abolished by the Indian constitution in 1950 butremains deeply embedded in social customs and still shapes the lives ofmost Hindus.