Government, Opposition silent on Sambhaji Bhide

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Legislative Council on Tuesday replied on the issue of violence at Pune’s Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018. Interestingly however, he did not utter a word about the alleged role of Sambhaji Bhide of Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, who has been accused of stoking violence by the police. What’s more, even the opposition showed reluctance in talking about Mr Bhide though opposition leader Dhananjay Munde made a passing mention twice in his reply.  

Members of the opposition mentioned Milind Ekbote of Hindu Ekta Manch as an alleged perpetrator of the Bhima-Koregaon violence. About Mr Ekbote, Mr Fadnavis said, “We have contacted the attorney general of India in Mr Ekbote’s case. We have asked the apex court for his custodial interrogation and we will keep demanding that. There is no reason to believe that we want to spare anyone.”

That apart, Mr Fadnavis did not utter a word about Mr Bhide, founder, Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, the other alleged perpetrator of the Bhima-Koregaon violence. Mr Fadnavis completely skipped mentioning Mr Bhide in his entire speech. Mr Munde, too, only twice mentioned Mr Bhide. “Be it Mr Ekbote or Mr Bhide, the government should ensure that there is strict action taken against all perpetrators,” said Mr Munde. Other than Mr Munde, no one from the opposition mentioned the Shiv Pratishthan leader’s name.

The January 1 violence at Bhima-Koregaon shook Maharashtra, with organisations affiliated to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar alleging that Mr Bhide and Mr Ekbote were the conspirators behind it and demanding their arrest time and again. With hardly any pressure on Mr Fadnavis to refer to Mr Bhide, Prakash Ambedkar, leader of the Bharatiya Republican Bahujan Mahasangh, said, “This was expected completely. We have been saying that neither the opposition nor the government will talk about Mr Bhide and Mr Ekbote. We have produced documents to show how the Congress-NCP government protected Mr Bhide. This is the reason that people should dump these parties."

A senior journalist Prakash Bal, said, “Mr Bhide has a good number of followers in western Maharashtra, which is a NCP bastion. It is possible that the ‘silence’ on Mr Bhide is a strategy not to disturb that group in their own backyard.”