HC directs Karnataka govt to clarify stand on RSS route march in Chittapur by November 13
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the state government to state its position by 2:30 pm on November 13 regarding the permission sought by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to conduct a route march in Chittapur, Kalaburagi district.
The direction came during the hearing of a petition filed by Ashok Patil, the RSS district convener of Kalaburagi, seeking the court’s intervention to instruct the district administration to consider their application for permission to hold the route march. The case was heard by Justice M.G.S. Kamal of the Kalaburagi bench on Friday.
Senior advocate M. Arun Shyam, appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that, following the court’s earlier advice, RSS representatives had attended a peace meeting at the Advocate General’s office in Bengaluru on November 5 and had presented their proposal. He said the government has yet to communicate its decision.
Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty, representing the state, told the court that permission would be granted to all organizations that had applied within a week, and written communication regarding the specific dates would be issued. He sought one week’s time for this process.
Responding to this, Arun Shyam requested that permission be granted for November 13 or 16, stating that the RSS had already reserved a Kalyana Mantapa (convention hall) for those two dates and would not be able to use it later.
After hearing both sides, Justice Kamal noted that the peace meeting held on November 5 with various organizations had been constructive. Since the petitioner sought permission for either November 13 or 16, and the Advocate General assured that permission would be given to all eligible organizations, the court adjourned the matter to November 13 at 2:30 pm.
The government has been directed to convey its decision on the permission sought by the RSS on that day.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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