Complaint filed against Jignesh Mewani and Umar Khalid at Pune police station

A complaint has been filed with the Deccan Gymkhana police station in Pune against Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and JNU student Umar Khalid for the violence that took place on Monday in Pune.

The complaint filed by two youths Bikkad Akshay Gautamrao and Anand Dhond states that it was Mewani who told ‘people to come on street and retaliate’ which is why tensions erupted between the two communities.

According to the complaint it was Mewani and Khalid’s ‘provocative’ remarks that resulted in the violence in Pune on Monday, where more than 50 vehicles were vandalized and burnt after Marathas allegedly clashed with Dalits returning from Bhima Koregaon in Pune. The Dalits were returning after gathering for an annual event to commemorate the anniversary of a battle in which a outnumbered British army comprising Dalits managed to stall a much strongered army of the Peshwas. For the Dalits the battle has a lot of significance as under the Dalits had to face a lot of oppression under the Peshwas.


While the Dalit organisations have claimed that the Hindutva outfits like Hindu Ekta Aghadi and Shivraj Pratishthan headed by Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide were involved in the violence while BJP and government officials have claimed that the violence was due to Mewani and Khalid’s speeches.