Bhima Koregaon Commission to summon chiefs of six political parties
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Pune: Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday passed an order to issue summons to presidents of six political parties in Maharashtra to take their suggestions on steps that can be taken to prevent and tackle a law and order situation in a better manner. These political parties include the Shiv Sena, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and the Republican Party of India (A).
Commission's advocate Ashish Satpute had submitted an application before the commission's chairman Jaynarayan Patel seeking direction to issue summons to state chiefs of Shiv Sena (CM Uddhav Thackeray), BJP (Chandrakant Patil), Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (Prakash Ambedkar), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (Raj Thackeray), Republic Party of India (A) Ramdas Athawale, and state Pradesh Congress Committee (Nana Patole).
Mr Satpute in his letter had stated that the presence of the above political persons is useful before the commission to suggest short and long-term measures to be taken by the district administration and police to avoid the recurrence of such incidents (the Koregaon Bhima violence that occurred on January 1, 2018).
The application also stated that the commission had issued notices to prominent political leaders in 2018 also, but barring NCP chief Sharad Pawar none of them made any efforts to respond to the notices.
Mr. Satpute stated that it was necessary to consider the suggestions of the political leaders of various parties on whether more powers should be delegated to police officers so that they can effectively control the situation like political bandhs, communal riots, political agitations, etc.
"Mr. Satpute said that while accepting the pea, the commission chairman ordered to issue summons to the presidents of six political parties in the state to attend the commission in person or depute a representative on their behalf.
"An affidavit is filed on or before June 30, 2022, in the office of the commission," said Mr. Satpute quoting the order.
The two-member probe commission is headed by the retired chief justice of the Calcutta High Court J N Patel and also comprises former Maharashtra chief secretary Sumit Mullick.
As per the Pune police, violence erupted between caste groups near the war memorial during the bicentennial anniversary of the 1818 battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018.
Dalit organizations commemorate the victory of the East India Company over the Peshwa of Pune in the battle because British forces included soldiers from the oppressed Mahar community. But some right-wing organizations had opposed the celebration, leading to the violence in 2018.