PHAGWARA: Ambedkar Sena Mulnivasi activists today took out a march in Punjab's Phagwara city and made a human chain on National Highway 1, which connects New Delhi to Attari town, against the violence in Maharashtra after an event to mark the 200th anniversary of Bhima-Koregaon battle.
Violence erupted in Pune district on Monday when Dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa's army.
Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed that soldiers from the Mahar community - then considered untouchable - were part of the East India Company's forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory is seen as a symbol of assertiveness by Dalits.
The protesters in Phagwara city also burnt effigies of and submitted a memorandum to SDM Jyoti Bala Mattu.
Led by Ambedkar Sena Mulnivasi's state president Harbhjan Suman, the protesters assembled at Ambedkar Park in Hargobindnagar, held demonstration against rightwing outfits, and then took out a march, the police said.
After forming a human chain on NH-1, the protesters proceeded to the SDM's office.
Suman accused Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis government of protecting rightwing outfits who had unleashed violence on Dalits. He alleged that a clear case of atrocities on Dalits was being given a communal colour to shield rightwing outfits.