Koregaon Bhima battle anniversary: Pune collector visits Jaystambh, takes stock of preparations for January 1 event

Collector Rajesh Deshmukh Wednesday held a meeting with police and government officials from various departments and civic bodies. Sandip Karnik, joint commissioner of Pune city police; Ankit Goyal, the superintendent of Pune rural police; tehsildar Kiran Survase and other officials took part in the meeting.

Lakhs of people, mainly the Ambedkarites from different parts of Maharashtra, are expected to visit the Jaystambh on January 1. The district administration is making arrangements like water, health facilities, parking, traffic and transport management. A huge police force will be deployed to prevent law and order problems, a precaution they have been taking the last few years after violence broke out at the Jaystambh on January 1, 2018, leading to one death. Many people, including police personnel, were injured in the subsequent clashes while property worth crores was damaged.

Like the last few years, this year too, the government through the Pune district administration filed an application before the Bombay High Court seeking permission to enter the disputed land to make arrangements for the January 1 programme. On December 12, the court permitted it to enter the area between December 22, 2022, and January 5, 2023.

On January 1, 1818, as per a Dalit narrative, a British Army comprising 500 soldiers from the Dalit Mahar community defeated a 28,000-strong force of Peshwas (who were Brahmins) in the battle. The visitors pay tribute to the soldiers who, they believe, fought a war for freedom against the alleged casteism of the Peshwas.

In 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a ‘symbolic’ programme was held as the government had issued an order prohibiting people from visiting the Jaystambh.

Last year, according to government sources, nearly two to three lakh visitors, mainly Ambedkarites from different parts of Maharashtra and also from other states, started gathering at Jaystambh from the night of December 31 till late evening on January 1.