Sambhaji Bhide, the president of Shree Shivprathistan, who was accused of inciting violence against the Dalit community during the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle, denied any role in the violence on Friday.
Mr. Bhide also said that he was willing to face an inquiry to prove his innocence. He told reporters at Sangli, “Order a judicial or a CBI probe. Appoint Lord Yama himself to head any machinery to probe the violence. I am prepared to face any probe. All allegations against me are baseless and the truth will come out after the probe.”
Mr. Bhide has also indefinitely postponed his plan to visit the city on Sunday. Citing apprehension of law and order issues, the city police had denied permission for Mr. Bhide’s lecture on history of forts in Lalbaug.
At a press conference on Friday, Balwant Dalvi, Mumbai executive of Shree Shivprathishtan, said, “In the light of recent violence and following the Mumbai Police’s request, we have decided to postpone the event. We had been preparing for it more than six months, but we will conduct it only after the faceless, casteist organisations with ill intentions are exposed and punished.”
About 5,000 people from Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi and adjacent cities like Nashik and Pune were expected attend the event. Mr. Dalvi said, “The Mumbai police have already gone through a lot. We don’t want to add to their troubles.”
Mr. Dalvi said that the organisation had faith in the police and were sure they would nab the culprits. An FIR has been registered against Mr. Bhide at Pimpri police station for inciting violence under Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, Arms Act, and Section 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code.
Chetan Baraskar, Navi Mumbai executive, Shree Shivprathisthan, said, “The complainant, Anita Salve, is obviously lying. How can she say that she saw Mr. Bhide in Pune on January 1 when he has been in Sangli since the last week of December?”
Mr. Baraskar said, “We are often accused of being ‘Hindutvavadi’. I do not understand how is it a crime to be a Hindutvavadi. As an organisation we are extremely proud to be Hindutvavadi and we try to abide by the principles of Hinduism. This is the responsibility of every Hindu. The real crime is to be a communist.”
Meanwhile the Cantonment police in Aurangabad, which had registered a case against Samast Hindu Aghadi leader Milind Ekbote and Mr. Bhide in connection with the violence, transferred it to the Shikrapur police station in Pune district.
