PUNE, 3 December 2006 — After a two-hour relaxation from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., curfew and prohibitory orders were reimposed in Aurangabad yesterday, though no untoward incident was reported till late last evening. A senior police official told Arab News from Aurangabad that the situation in the city and rural Aurangabad was peaceful and under control.
Curfew was however lifted completely in Osmanabad, Hingoli and Nanded districts, where large-scale violence and arson had been reported following an agitation by Dalit activists, protesting the desecration of a statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kanpur.
Deputy Commissioner of Police K.G. Patil said that three companies of State Reserve Police Force have been assisting the local police to maintain law and order.
Thirty-nine persons have been arrested during a combing operation carried out in sensitive parts of the city last night.
Special Inspector General of Police Bhagwantrao More said that the situation in the troubled Marathwada districts was firmly under control and normal, and that no violent incident had been reported since Friday evening.
The situation in Parbhani, Latur and Beed districts too was peaceful and no untoward incidents of any kind were reported from these districts, More added.
Meanwhile, Yogendra Singh, the Public Relations Officer of Central Railways of Pune Division said that the railways had suffered losses to the tune of around Indian Rupees 50 million due to the burning of six coaches of the Deccan Queen by Dalit protesters at Ulhasnagar station on Thursday. This is in addition to the loss of Indian Rupees 1,50,00 suffered due to refund of tickets for the canceled tickets for the Deccan Queen.
The train remains to be canceled for an indefinite period, due to non availability of coaches. “We are making efforts to secure six coaches form Western Railways and form servicing centers that have surplus coaches. It is not possible to use coaches of long-distance trains, which have sleeper berth as Inter-city trains use sitting benches, Singh said.
In another development, the federal government has advised the Maharashtra government to beef up security arrangements on December 4 and 6. Some Dalit organizations are planning to hold demonstrations on the opening day of the Maharashtra Legislature Assembly session beginning on December 4 in Nagpur, which may lead to law and order problem. The Nagpur police commissioner SPS Yadav had refused to grant permission to Dalit organizations to hold any rallies in Nagpur for a month.
The ban on Dalit rallies have angered party leaders. Prakash Ambedkar, son of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and president of Bharatiya Republican Party Bahujan Mahasangh struck a defiant note saying that the Dalit rallies won’t be called off despite the government’s decision to ban it. From the tough talks of the Dalit leaders it appears that the Dalits are set on for a confrontation with the government.
Further, Dalits from all over India are going to merge at Dadar, a Mumbai suburb on December 6 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar. On the same day intelligence reports state the some Hindu fundamentalist organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal may celebrate the demolition of Babri Mosque, and the Muslims organizations are also likely to hold rallies to protest against the demolition of the mosque. This may aggravate the law and order situation. The Federal government has asked the state government to deal very firmly with miscreants who would attempt to create law and order problems.
