Bengaluru team gives clean chit to Bhide, Ekbote

Fact-finding committee calls for probe

The Bengaluru-based Citizen's Forum For Justice (CFFJ), which carried out a fact-finding probe into the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon episode, has given a clean chit to Right-wing activists Bhide Guruji and Milind Ekbote.

A fact-finding committee headed by Justice M Ramakrishna went into various issues vis-a-vis the incidents before and after December 29, 2017-1 January, 2018.

"The Elgaar Parishad’s allegation on Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote for the violence does not appear true and convincing, since there are no photographs or videos showing their presence among the crowd," the committee's report said.

"There were no posters or banners or speeches provoking Marathas against Dalits. Whereas sufficient evidence are available of banners, posters and speeches by leaders of Elgaar Parishad provoking Dalits against Marathas and other communities," it said.

"The congregation of Marathas at Vadhu to protect the Samadhi appeared to be the spontaneous response of Maratha youths in response to the provocation in social media for a possible attack of Dalits on Samadhi of Sambhaji," it said.

The report asked the Maharashtra government to investigate into the funding source of the Elgaar Parishad and other such organisations.

It is recommended that the Maharashtra government appoint an expert committee of historians to bring out the true narration of facts pertaining to the last rites of Sambhaji Maharaj, the Sanads given to Gopal Govind and others.

A further research and study about the composition of the soldiers in British and Peshwa armies in the battle of Koregaon may also help in removing the notion that the war was fought between "Dalits" and Peshwas, it suggested.

The committee noted that a person with a blue flag from so called "Dalit" crowd deliberately entered the rally of Marathas and then there was a spark and the reaction was probably planned, resulting into violence.