Members of the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, along with activist Harshali Potdar and lawyers representing different parties, visited the ‘Jaystambh’ at Perne village in Pune district on Friday.
The two-member commission, headed by retired Calcutta High Court justice J N Patel, is probing the causes that led to the violence in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, that killed one person and injured several others. Former chief secretary Sumit Mallick is the second member of the commission.
Activist Potdar is among the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad—a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of battle of Koregaon Bhima.
According to a Pune city police probe, the Elgaar Parishad was organised according to the strategy of the banned CPI-Maoist and speeches delivered at the conclave and previous campaigns for the event were among the factors that allegedly caused the January 1 violence.
Elgaar Parishad organisers have denied the allegations. In her affidavit filed before the Commission, Potdar has blamed Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide for the Koregaon Bhima violence.
Potdar is being cross examined by special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray before the Commission. During the hearing on January 7, the Commission noted that Potdar has replied “I will check and revert” to a lot of questions put to her by Hiray.
The commission observed that many of these questions were related to ‘Jaystambh’, a “defence memorial” erected at Perne village by the British government around 1822, in memory of its soldiers who fought against the Peshwas at Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 1818.
The Commission mentioned it would be appropriate for Potdar to visit the Jaystambh and get her answers “verified and confirmed relating to inscription on the monument/war memorial.”
Accordingly, as per the Commission’s proposal, Potdar visited the Jaystambh on Friday, in the presence of retired justice J N Patel and Sumit Mullick, and viewed the historical information inscripted on it by the British. Commission’s secretary V V Palnitkar, lawyer Aashish Satpute, advocates B G Bansode, Kiran Channe, M V Deshmukh, Rohan Jamadar and others were also present at that time.
As per a Dalit Ambedkarite narrative, the British Army, comprising 500 soldiers from the Mahar community, defeated a 28,000-strong force of Peshwas in this battle. Lakhs of Ambedkarites visit the Jaystambh on January 1, calling it ‘Shaurya Din (victory day)’ to pay tribute to soldiers who, they believe, fought a war for freedom against the alleged casteism of the Peshwas.
Dr Ambedkar had visited the Jaystambh on January 1, 1927, as part of the historic anti-British movement against the ban on recruitment of the then “untouchables” in the British Army.
The Britishers are said to have appointed soldier Kandojibin Gajoji Jamadar – who was wounded in the Battle of Koregaon Bhima – as the in-charge of the Jaystambh on December 13, 1824.
According to the Jamadar family, which belongs to the Maratha community, both British and Peshwa forces comprised soldiers of different castes. Thus, they say the battle of Koregaon Bhima cannot be linked to any particular caste or religion, and that it was not a war against casteism.
At the Jaystambh on Friday, advocate Rohan Jamadar, a successor of Kandojibin Gajoji Jamadar, showed copies of some contemporary historical documents related to the Koregaon Bhima battle of 1818 to the commission members, who further visited the samadhi of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj at the Vadhu Budruk village, located about 4kms away.
They then visited a memorial of ‘Bapuji and Padmavati Shivale’ in the village. Citing this memorial, Marathas from Vadhu Budruk believe it was their ancestors, the Shivale Deshmukhs, who had defied the orders of Aurangzeb and performed the last rites of Sambhaji Maharaj after he was killed by the Mughal emperor in 1689.
The members also paid a visit to a disputed tomb-like structure in Vadhu Budruk, which, according to the Dalit Mahar community, is the samadhi of Govind Gopal Dhegoji Meghoji, a 17th century figure. The Mahar community claims that Govind Gopal performed the last rites of the king. The Gaikwad family from the village claims to be successors of Govind Gopal.
A board with the ‘disputed history’ of Govind Gopal erected in Vadhu Budruk on the intervening night of December 28 and 29, 2017, had led to an altercation, which was seen as one of the triggers for Koregaon Bhima violence on January 1.
Since then, Vadhu Budruk is considered one of the most sensitive locations in Pune district. Personnel from the Pune rural police were present as the commission members interacted with different persons in the village, including Gram Panchayat office bearers, on Friday.
Curated by James Chen
