Violence in Bidar as Dalits protest against desecration of statue

Widespread violence has been reported from Bidar district in Karnataka in the wake of reported desecration of a yet-to-be unveiled statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in Mannekhalli village in the district’s Humnabad taluk.

Police said more than 20 private vehicles, 14 buses, one police jeep and 15 shops were destroyed in nine places in Bidar district in stone pelting and arson. One person was seriously injured when the police fired tear-gas shell to quell the violent mobs.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 had been imposed in various parts of violence-hit Bidar district.

Trouble began after Dalit Sangharsh Samithi members noticed a garland of slippers on the fencing of a pedestal of Ambedkar’s statue at Mannekhalli, located at a distance of about 25 kms from Bidar town.

The news spread like wildfire and activists began gathering near the statue and blocking the Mumbai-Hyderabad national highway. The protestors first set fire to a bus belonging to state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). They stoned many other buses that passed on the road.

The protest near the statue sparked off violence in different parts of the district with Dalit activists setting fire to buses and stoning vehicles in Bidar, Aurad, Humnabad, Bhalki and other areas.

Businessmen downed their shutters and educational institutions declared a holiday after the Dalit activists enforced a shut-down in various parts of the district. When miscreants started pelting stones at vehicles, the police had to fire more than 55 rounds of teargas shells and use the baton to bring the situation under control.