Pune police have granted permission to the Elgar Parishad which is slated to be held on January 30, reported Maharashtra Times.
As per the Facebook post on January 22, the event will be held at the Ganesh Krida Kala Manch in Pune’s Swargate area. “Organizers of Elgar have met Pune Commissioner of Police IPS Amitabh Gupta and Pune Police has given permission for the Elgar Parishad 2021,” reads the post.
Activist and Author Arundhuti Roy and former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan will be present during the event.
Earlier in December, the Pune Police had denied permission to hold Elgar Parishad event on December 31 ahead of the anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1. Retired Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse-Patil had then warned that they will organise the event on the road after the police denied the permission.
For the uninitiated, retired Supreme Court judge PB Sawant and retired justice BG Kolse Patil were the conveners of the first Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017.
On the very next day, violence broke out in Bhima Koregaon during the annual gathering of Dalits on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the 1818 Battle of Koregaon Bhima. In the battle, the British army comprising a large contingent of Dalit Mahar soldiers had defeated the Peshwas. Dalits celebrate this victory as the beginning of self-assertion of oppressed communities.
Pune Police had alleged that the Elgar Parishad held in December 2017 had been backed by Maoists, and inflammatory speeches made there led to caste violence near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial.
Rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj, Telugu poet Varavara Rao and several others were arrested subsequently for alleged Maoist links. The probe was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency.
(With inputs from agencies)
