The much-hyped Bijapur Chalo to protest against the alleged rape and murder of Dalit girl turned out to be a damp squib on Tuesday apparently because of differences within the Dalit unions.
Following reports of clashes between Dalits leaders of Vijayapura and Dalit leaders of Bengaluru, who had arranged for Bijapur Chalo, the district administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Vijayapura taluk till Wednesday evening.
With Section 144 being in force, the organisers of Bijapur Chalo could not gather at Ambedkar Circle which was the venue of the event.
On Monday night, the police arrested Bhaskar Prasad, Dalit activist, who led the organisers, stating that he was being arrested for providing security from those who are against the event.
Meanwhile, the main reason for the event being flop is believed to be the failure of organisers not taking local Dalit leaders into confidence before going ahead with the programme.
This was also admitted to by activist Noor Sridhar who came here to participate in the event.
During the press conference here on Tuesday, he admitted that the lack of communication between the leaders of the two sides led to the failure of the event.
“It is so unfortunate and disappointing that the message has now gone that Dalit leaders are not united on such a critical and sensitive issue. This is very sad. However, we will try to speak to local leaders and assess the situation and take corrective measures in the future,” he said. Meanwhile, activists Sripad Bhat and Mahindra Kumar, along with Mr. Sridhar, demanded that the government set up a fast track court for the speedy disposal of the case.
Regretting that the rate of conviction has been negligible in a majority of such cases, he said that such a thing should not happen in the case of this Dalit girl.
Accusing some police officials of resorting to character assassination of the Dalit girl and her family to sabotage the case, they demanded that the government first suspend such officials for ensuring an impartial inquiry.
