NEW DELHI: Days after Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and over 90 protesters were detained after a violent protest in Tughlakabad, the Dalit outfit gave a 10-day deadline to resolve the Ravidas temple dispute failing which it threatened to call a country-wide shutdown.
Bhim Army supporters will observe August 25 as ‘International Dhikkar Diwas’ and will burn the effigies of PM Narendra Modi to protest the “police atrocities” on Azad and his supporters, it said.
Azad and his supporters — arrested for rioting and unlawful assembly — are in judicial custody for 14 days.
“If the Ravidas Temple is not built within 10 days, we will call for a Bharat Bandh,” Bjim Army national chief general secretary Kamal Singh Walia said, adding Azad will not seek bail till his fellow protesters are not released.
The Dalit outfit was to hold a press conference at the Indian Women’s Press Corps but the IWPC cancelled the event.
Later, the IWPC contended that the facility is out of bound for religious or political functions. “There was miscommunication from their side.”
On Wednesday, protesters had set on fire two motorcycles and damaged a police vehicle in Tughlakabad area. A few policemen were also injured in the clash.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he would swap 100 acres of forest land for the plot in Tughalakbad where a Ravidas temple stood till it was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) almost a fortnight ago.
The DDA had demolished the temple on August 10 following the orders of the apex court.
Uneasy calm
Tension still prevails in the Tughlakabad area in south Delhi after protest by Dalits turned violent on Wednesday.
The police had used “mild lathicharge” and use tear gas to disperse the crowd. But the recent mega rally in the city has kept the issue burning