MUMBAI: Neighbours and supporters of dalit activist-editor Sudhir Dhawale protested his arrest by the police Wednesday morning. They said that they had been at the receiving end ever since the Elgar Parishad meeting in Pune on December 31 last year and the violence that erupted at Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018. They said that the arrest was nothing but an addition to their existing misery.
Supporters of Mr Dhawale thronged outside the Deonar police station, demanding answers and the release of Mr Dhawale. They claimed that he had been wrongly arrested and that the main culprits were still out and about. The supporters said that injustice had been done to Mr Dhawale as he had done nothing wrong.
One of Mr Dhawale’s supporters, Kishan More (58), told The Asian Age, “This is all planning and plotting against the backward classes of society, and these arrests are aimed at further demeaning the lower castes. The Bhim Nagar area has been under constant scrutiny and the people are under the radar, making us feel like criminals.”
During Mr Dhawale’s interrogation inside the Deonar police station, his supporters and neighbours stood outside in groups, blocking entry and exit.
When the police politely asked them to make way, they maintained, “We are all law-abiding citizens, and have never broken a law. However when it comes to us, we are conveniently sidelined. Does a different rule apply to us?”
Mr Dhawale’s well-wishers flocked to his Bhim Nagar residence-cum-office, too. One of the neighbours said, “It was completely unethical and immoral, and we strongly condemn this abrupt arrest of one of our people.”
