Saharanpur clashes: Bheem Army felicitates 39 members out on bail

“There is nothing questionable about giving permission for the event, as no prohibitory order was in effect. If they indulge in any kind of violence, then action will be taken,” said District Magistrate Pramod Kumar Pandey.
Bheem Army’s Saharanpur district secretary, Parveen Ropri, who organised the function, said: “The members were handed over a diary and a memento. The aim was to introduce them to the people of our community and tell them they had fought for us.”

“We had prepared for the event for the last 15 days. After obtaining permission from the additional superintendent of police (City), we sent invites through different forums, including social networking sites. The 39 members were informed about the event individually a week ago,” said Rohit Raj Gautam, Bheem Army’s Rampur Maniharan Vidhan Sabha constituency area president.

He added that 42 Bheem Army workers were arrested following the violence in May. Except for three, including Chandrashekhar, others are currently out on bail. While Chandrashekhar was arrested from Himachal Pradesh on June 8, Shabbirpur village pradhan Shiv Kumar and another worker, Sonu Singh, are lodged in the Saharanpur District Jail. They have all been booked under NSA.

Saharanpur Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Prabhal Pratap Singh said that Bheem Army holds a programme every year at Guru Ravidas Temple, therefore, they were given the permission to hold the event. “We knew that they would be felicitating some persons who were jailed in cases related to the violence. But now I will seek a report from the LIU about what happened at the event.”

On May 5, last year, Thakurs from Shabbirpur were on their way to Simlana village to take part in a function to garland the statue of Rajput king Maharana Pratap, when Dalits objected to the loud music being played. It soon snowballed into a full-blown clash. While the police initially managed to pacify the Thakurs, they soon returned with more people and torched 15 to 20 Dalit houses. Sixteen people were injured in the resulting clashes. Among them, Sumit Rajput, a Thakur, later succumbed to his injuries.

The state government had invoked NSA against six accused — three each from the Bheem Army and the Thakur community.