Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry sends another ‘letter of request’ to Prakash Ambedkar to appear on June 5

The two-member commission, headed by retired judge Justice J N Patel, was formed by the state government for probing into the causes of violence in the Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, at a time when huge number of Dalits, mainly from the Ambedkarite Mahar community had gathered at the “Jaystambh” to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Koregaon Bhima. One person had died and several others were left injured in the violence.

Supreme leader of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Ambedkar had blamed Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote for the Koregaon Bhima violence and called for “Maharashtra Bandh” protest on January 3, 2018. However, incidents of violence were reported at various locations during the “Maharashtra Bandh” agitation.

In his application, advocate Satpute had pointed out that as per the “terms of reference (TOR)” of the commission it has “to suggest short term and long-term measures to be taken by the district administration and the police in order to avoid recurrence of such incidence.”

Satpute mentioned that it will be useful and necessary to see Ambedkar’s presence before the judicial commission with reference to the aforesaid TOR.

Satpute stated it is also necessary to consider the suggestions given by Ambedkar of the aforesaid prominent leader of above Political party as to know what more powers, tools and machinery can be given to the police officers so they would be in better position to control the law and order situations like “Political Bandh, Communal riots, Political Agitation etc” and prevent such incidents in future.

V V Palnitkar, secretary of the commission a letter of request has been issued again for Ambedkar for “appearance and filing of affidavit” in Mumbai on June 5.

The Commission has released the schedule of its hearings in Mumbai between June 5 and June 9. Cross examination of pending witnesses would be carried out during these hearings.

Pending witnesses include activist Harshali Potdar, who is among the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017, a day before the Koregaon Bhima violence. According to Pune City Police’s probe, Elgaar Parishad was organised according to the strategy of the banned CPI-Maoist and speeches delivered at the conclave and previous campaigns for the event were among the factors that caused the January 1 violence. Probe into this case was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Also, other pending witnesses include police officers Shivaji Pawar, who investigated the Elgaar Parishad case, Ganesh More, investigation officer of the case against Ekbote and Bhide and Ramesh Galande, who was the in-charge of Shikrapur police station of Pune rural police at the time of riots.

When contacted, Ambedkar said, “I have sought a fresh date from the Commission. I will depose before the Commission.”

He said that there are some aspects he wished to address. “Since the Commission is looking at prevention of such riots etc, my concern is if there was an administrative failure. If so, why and who is responsible… At the centre of Koregaon Bhima riots, the issue is if there was an intelligence failure. If so then, what was the role of the police,” he added.