Anita Sawale, the political activist who had filed an FIR accusing Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide of instigating violence in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, said “It may be true, I do not know” when asked on Tuesday if “rumours” were spread that the two leaders were present during the violence. Sawale, a leader of Bahujan Republican Socialist Party and a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad, was cross-examined by lawyers on Tuesday before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, which is probing the Koregaon Bhima violence, in which one person died and several were injured. Ekbote is leader of the Samasta Hindu Aghadi, while Bhide heads Shri Shivprathisthan Hindustan. But in her FIR filed on January 2, 2018, as well as her affidavit submitted before the Commission in July 2018, Sawale stated that Bhide is head of “Shiv Jagar Pratisthan” and Ekbote “Hindu Jan-jagaran Samiti”, and that “Savarna” (upper caste) members of their organisations had caused the violence on January 1. She claimed to have witnessed the violence when she was in Vadhu Budruk and Koregaon Bhima area with her family members on January 1 to pay homage at the “Jaystambh”, a memorial erected by the British colonial government to commemorate its soldiers who fought against Maratha forces in the Battle of Koregaon on January 1, 1818. Sawale said that at 1.30 pm on January 1, 2018, she saw 10-15 persons in Vadhu Budruk wearing jerseys with the names of “Shiv Jagar Pratisthan” and “Hindu Jan-jagaran Samiti”, who were shouting slogans glorifying Bhide and Ekbote. Sawale told the Commission that before filing the FIR next day on January 2, she along with an advocate Gawali and others, held a discussion and searched on social media and found that the two organisations, “Shiv Jagar Pratisthan” and “Hindu Jan-jagaran Samiti”, were run by Ekbote and Bhide. Advocate Pradip Gawade pointed out that in her FIR she did not mention anybody wearing jerseys with names of such organisations. Gawade added that Ekbote and Bhide are not connected to any organisations with these names. Sawale was also given a smartphone and asked to search on social media before the Commission and show whether these organisations belong to Ekbote and Bhide. Sawale replied, “It is possible they might have deleted the names of these organisations from social media.when we searched for these organisations, we found that they belonged to Ekbote and Bhide. We searched on Google, Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook. We had seen people shouting slogans of these organisations and wearing shirts with the names of these organisations at village Vadhu Budruk.” Sawale said in her affidavit that during the violence on January 1, some people at the site told her that Ekbote and Bhide were “walking on the streets”. Sawale told the Commission that she does not know these persons. When Gawade said both Bhide and Ekbote were not present there on January 1, 2018 and that people were spreading rumours about their presence, Sawale replied “may be true, I do not know”. Advocate Pushkar Durge questioned Sawale on what she meant by “Savarna Sathidar” of Bhide and Ekbote. Sawale said she called members of Ekbote and Bhide’s organisations with “Sanatani” thoughts as “Savarna Sathidar” as both belong to “Savarna class (upper caste)”. Durge asked whether she knows there are persons from backward class who are also followers of Bhide and Ekbote, and Sawale replied in the negative. Sawale denied that she had filed a false FIR against Bhide and Ekbote for gaining publicity.
