Bhim Army chief to visit Pune’s Jaystambh on January 1

Gaikwad said party members also planned to organise an ‘Abhivadan rally’, from the Dr B R Ambedkar statue near Pune railway station till Koregaon Bhima, under the leadership of Azad. The party will also organise a gathering of its workers, as well as meetings with well-wishers.

“We will share exact details about our January 1 programme soon. We will be following the directions of government officials in view of the Covid- 19 outbreak,” Gaikwad told The Indian Express.

Azad had visited the Jaystambh, a war memorial in Perne village, for the first time on January 1, 2019, a year after the area saw large-scale violence as clashes erupted between two groups. One person was killed, several injured and property worth crores destroyed in the violence.

As per a Dalit narrative, the British force that fought Peshwas at Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 1818, comprised largely of soldiers from the Dalit Mahar community, who waged a “war for freedom” from the “casteism” of the Peshwas.

Every year, on January 1, Dalits from the Ambedkarite Mahar community visit the Jaystambh, a war memorial erected by the British in memory of soldiers who fought bravely against the Peshwas in the battle.

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