Over three weeks after a group of Buddhist monks and members of the Republican Sena occupied the India United Mills complex in Dadar,the state government on Thursday managed to convince the encroachers to leave peacefully. By late evening,the National Textile Corporation-owned seaside mill premises were vacated,following a public assurance from Home Minister R R Patil that the state government was in the process of coaxing the Centre to declare that the entire 12.5-acre plot would be made available for constructing an international memorial to Dr B R Ambedkar. The state governments success in defusing what had turned into a piquant situation came a day after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior leaders met Anandraj Ambedkar,grandson of Dr Ambedkar and founder-president of the Republican Sena. We have placed our faith in the governments assurances, said Kashinath Nikalje,the Maharashtra president of the Republican Sena,who has also been camping at the site. We do not want to cause any trouble,we have merely been asking that the government fulfil its promise of allotting the land for a memorial. He called it a successful agitation. On Thursday evening,Patil spoke at a toned down rally of Ambedkar followers in Worli and assured them that the state government was fully supportive of their demand and a multi-party delegation led by the CM will travel to New Delhi to petition the Centre regarding the India United Mills land. The Mumbai Police on Thursday deployed additional personnel outside the mill compound to avoid a flare-up. State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) platoons and local police personnel were also deployed near the mill compound to ensure that those who had pitched tent on the mill premises would leave. Senior officers of the Mumbai Police were also present outside the mill on Thursday. Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) Vineet Agarwal said,After the protesters leave,the land will be handed over to the NTC. We are complying with the courts order and those who have been staying here have been asked to leave. They are in the process of vacating the land. Agarwal said the police presence at the mill compound was to ensure there is no untoward incident. Deployment was just a precautionary measure. We did not want to risk the chance of a flare-up and wanted to vacate the mill peacefully. On Ambedkars death anniversary on December 6,observed by his followers as Mahaparinirvan Din,more than 500 supporters of the Republican Sena stormed the India United Mills no 5 premises,claiming they had taken possession of the land since the state and Central governments had shown little inclination to fulfil their 2003 promise of an international Ambedkar memorial. Most of the protesters left the site later that afternoon,but about 15 monks and their attendants remained inside and installed a statue each of Buddha and Ambedkar. On December 22,hearing a petition against the encroachment filed by NTC,the Bombay High Court said the Mumbai Police should forcibly evict the squatters,if need be,and compared the occupying of the premises to the Babri Masjid demolition.
