TIL Desk/National/Mumbai/ Maharashtra remained on edge after the anniversary of a battle fought 200 years ago brought to fore simmering caste tensions even as a statewide bandh called today to protest the state government’s alleged failure to stop violence witnessed stray protest by Dalits.
Dalit protesters tried to block tracks at the Thane railway station today morning, but they were chased away soon and the traffic on the Central Railway line remained uninterrupted, said a railway official.
Protesters also tried to block rail traffic on the Western line in suburban Goregaon, said a police official. Today’s Class 11 exams at St Xavier’s College in South Mumbai have been cancelled, college authorities said.
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader and Dr B R Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar have called for Maharashtra bandh today to protest the state government’s “failure” to stop the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district two days ago.
Ambedkar alleged that Hindu Ekta Aghadi was responsible for the violence. He said Maharashtra Democratic Front, Maharashtra Left Front and some 250 other organisations have supported the call for shutdown. While the state government clarified that it hasn’t declared a school holiday, bus operators said they won’t run school buses in Mumbai today.
