Pune City Police lathicharged agitators with hearing impairment when they tried to take out a rally from the Commissionerate of Social Welfare on Monday afternoon demanding better educational facilities and reservation in government jobs, among others. The agitators, however, continued to stage a protest at the spot till late evening. Late into the night, city BJP MP Anil Shirole said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought a report on the incident. Hundreds of people, with hearing impairment, from different parts of the state, mainly associated with the Rajyastariya Karnabadhir Association, had gathered at the Commissionerate for Social Welfare on Church Road in Pune around 10 am on Monday. With the help of interpreters, they went to the office of the commissioner for persons with disabilities, on the same premises, with various demands. Some of the demands were provision of better educational facilities, more teachers who can teach different subjects in sign language, action on those seeking fake disability certificates, appointments and reservations in government jobs, provision of driving licence and providing place for setting up juice centres in government offices and hospitals. The agitators also opposed the recent transfer of IAS officer Balaji Manjule, who was the commissioner for persons with disabilities, Pune. Around 2.30 pm, the protesters tried to take out a rally. The police stopped them, stating that no permission had been taken for the march. However, as the agitators started walking and pushed the barricades put up in the area, the police personnel present at the spot lathicharged on them. Atiya Hajee, an interpreter for Aniket Selgaokar, the vice-president of Rajyastariya Karnabadhir Association, said: “About 33 agitators got injured in the incident..Our demands are pending for a long time. Today (Monday), was our third protest before the commissioner for persons with disabilities. Despite repeated attempts, no government officials or elected representatives came forward to fulfil our demands. That is why we had organised the protest. We only tried to walk peacefully without causing any law and order problems. But still, the police attacked us. We will be holding a meeting of our office-bearers to decide the future course of agitation and whether to lodge complaint against the police with the higher authorities.” A police team, including the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Pritee Tipare and Senior Inspector M M Mujawar of Bundgarden police station, were on duty at the spot. “Agitators had informed about their protest and 1,500-2,000 agitators had gathered accordingly. But they had not sought any permission for a rally. As they pushed the barricades, we had to use mild force for controlling them,” said ACP Tipare. “The agitators staged protest in the morning and then held talks with some government officials regarding their demands. It seems that they wanted an order favouring their demands in two hours. As it did not happen, they decided to take out a long march to Mantralaya, Mumbai. But they had not taken permission for the march. So, we told them not to take out the rally. The police was properly co-ordinating with the agitators through their interpreters.” He added: “As they started marching, we detained about 150 agitators in police vehicles.The situation was under control. But around 2.30 pm, a leader said something in sign language and after that they started pushing the barricades. A few police personnel, including me and some policewomen fell to the ground. Some of the agitators also fell on the road. So, we had to apply minor force to control the situation. If it was not done in time, a stampede-like situation might have occurred. A few police personnel got injured while controlling the situation.” Mujawar said the police did not lathicharge. Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shivaji Bodkhe said: “There was neither a lathicharge nor excess use of force. The police had to step in, otherwise there could have been a stampede. Many protesters could have got injured.” He added: “As per the primary information, one of the leaders instigated the others. Because of a sudden chaos, the crowd went out of control, as they pushed barricades and started walking towards the main road. The police had no option but to step in.” The police said the situation was brought under control after they called additional force. Taslim Shaikh, an interpreter who spoke to the media on behalf of agitators, said: “By beating up the agitators badly, the police have violated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. As per the law, the police cannot hit us and use force on us like this.” The agitators have threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha elections if their demands are not met. Speaking to mediapersons in Mumbai, Dilip Kamble, the Minister of State for Social Welfare and Special Assistance, said they would be looking into the demands of the agitators and see that steps are taken to resolve their issues. Sharmila Yevale, an interpreter, said a delegation had met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a few months ago. “We protesters are demanding that the government should publish a notification that will assure that their demands will be met. The protesters are demanding for new technical institutions for specially abled persons so that they get benefits of jobs. The protesters are demanding that such institutions should impart knowledge in sign language that will help them learn and improve their skill set.” An official from the disability commissionerate who accepted the letter of demands from the protesters said the protest had started around 9 am. “Around 10.30 am, a few representatives came and handed over the letter of demands. Their demands are justified and we are working on them. But we have to depend on other government agencies to fulfil the demands. For instance, the specially abled persons demand technical education, but when we approached few institutes to start such courses, they told us as most of them do not study math and science at the higher secondary level it is difficult to admit them to the technical courses. SPPU is working on designing such courses. But it is in the pipeline,” the official said. Pradeem More, General Secretary, State Level Association of the Deaf, said, through interpreter Taslim Shaikh, that the agitation will continue throughout the night and the decision will be taken in the morning. Shirole said: “After the unfortunate incidence of lathicharge by the police in Pune, I contacted the honourable Chief Minister. He has asked for a detailed report and has asked his colleague in the cabinet, Rajkumar Badole, the Minister for Social Justice to look into the matter.” He added: “Now, Dilip Kamble, the state Minister for Social Justice has been asked to coordinate with agitating students, understand their demands and resolve those as soon as possible.”
