(Eds: Recasting intro)Mumbai, Jan 5 (PTI) While NCP chief Sharad Pawar hasalleged that right-wing forces are behind the violence thattook place at Bhima-Koregaon, his party MP today backed thetwo pro-Hindutva leaders accused of inciting the violence.
Milind Ekbote of Samast Hindu Aghadi and SambhajiBhide, the founder of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, are in thespotlight for allegedly "orchestrating" the violence at theanniversary celebrations of the battle fought 200 years ago inBhima-Koregaon.
The NCP MP and descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,Udayanraje Bhonsle, said Bhide had cried after being accusedof instigating the violence, which led to protests by Dalitsin Maharashtra, paralysing life in Mumbai and other places.
"Milind Ekbote is my friend. I want to tell him to avoidspeaking anything which may cause tensions," Bhonsle told aMarathi TV channel in Delhi.
"Bhide cried before me and said he had nothing to do withthe violence. He told me he was going there to clean thesamadhi (memorial) in Vadhu Budurk village near BhimaKoregaon)," he said.
Many in western Maharashtra believe that Vadhu Budruk iswhere Sambhaji, the eldest son of Shivaji Maharaj, wascremated after being killed by the Mughals in 1689.
The legend goes that Sambhaji's body was mutilated andthrown into a river by Aurangzeb and it was Govind Gaikwad, aDalit resident of Vadhu Budruk, who gathered the body partstogether and made arrangements for the last rites.
Sambhaji's memorial was said to have been erected by theMahars (Dalits) of that village. Consequently, GovindGaikwad's tomb was also erected in the village.
Cases have been registered by the Pimpri police againstEkbote and Bhide for allegedly inciting the Bhima-Koregaonviolence. The two organisations headed by them had opposed thecelebration of "British victory" in the battle of Bhima-Koregaon.
Pawar, this week, alleged that "outsiders" came andprovoked the residents of Vadhu village. The NCP chief saidthere was no history of violence in last several years of thecelebrations marking the anniversary of the battle.
Clashes between Dalit groups and supporters of right-wingHindu organisations during the 200th anniversary celebrationsof the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune district on January 1 hadleft a man dead.
Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it isbelieved that soldiers from the Mahar community - thenconsidered untouchable - were part of the East India Company'sforces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory was seen bythem as a symbol of assertiveness by the Dalits. PTI MR VTNSD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.