Karnataka police beat Dalit protesters; detain 200 of them in capital

Bengaluru: During a protest held by Dalit activists at the Karnataka capital's Freedom Park on Sunday, Bengaluru Police unleashed a lathi charge without provocation or even noticed, injuring some, The News Minute reported,

The protest was held demanding internal reservations within the Scheduled Caste category, and the protesters were planning to submit a memorandum before the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj. The Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission report, a decade old one, had recommended the implementation of reservation within the SC community.

In the chaotic turn of events at Freedom Park, two leaders were seriously injured, and police detained around 200 activists who gathered there.

The agitation was led mostly by the Madiga SC community, and the gathering a the park was an end to a padayatra that started from the gravesite of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) founder Prof B Krishnappa. The police's offensive plus the arrests have fuelled the agitation, and more people are expected to get involved. A statewide protest has been called to condemn the police action on Sunday.

A senior Dalit leader said that the police's action was a major blunder by the BJP government in the state, and they will pay for the mistake.

Another leader said that police must have paid the courtesy of talking first while they were demonstrating braving cold and rain. They are not terrorists but citizens of the country, a democracy. He addressed CM Bommai that he was supposed to do the government's work, but he had ordered to arrest of the protestors.

"You will have to repent this," TNM quoted the leaders warning towards Bommai.

The agitation, for a demand that is decades old, this time has the support of certain SC sections such as Holeyas, who traditionally opposed it and used to reap most of the benefits like reservations. The current unanimity came after Dalit communities across the state passed a resolution on December 6th, the death anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, demanding the Karnataka government provide for internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) with respect to population.

The large gathering at Bengaluru's National College grounds, titled gathering at Bengaluru's National College grounds, which was titled 'Dalit's Cultural Resistance' convention, turned out to be the largest in recent years, demanding the implementation of Sadashiva's recommendations.

The protests and chaos that followed might have deep implications for the state elections next year. Also, the mentioned resolution has vowed to protest against several bills passed at the BJP-led state as well as national level. The resolution underscored the BJP's ignorance of atrocities faced by Dalits, TNM reported.