Activists from various Dalit organisations on Wednesday marched and demonstrated outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Bidar, condemning the formation of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) camp at the government-run Morarji Desai Residential School in Kamthana, Bidar district.
Since the organisations had warned of heightened agitation the day before, a large police presence was posted on the Deputy Commissioner’s office grounds to prevent any untoward occurrences. The agitated activists chanted slogans against the RSS, the employees of the Social Welfare Department, and the school’s principal for permitting the camp to take place.
They later halted the demonstration by submitting a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Shivakumar Sheelavanth. On Monday, the Forum of Dalit Organizations, the single platform on which all Dalit organisations joined together for a common cause, also filed a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
“We had previously condemned the camp and issued a memorandum. Nonetheless, you did nothing. Your inactivity demonstrates that you, too, are involved. The camp is being run on the verbal orders of Union Minister Bhagwanth Khuba, and you are carrying out this unlawful action at his request,” Rajkumar Mulabharati, an agitation leader, remarked during his confrontation with the Additional Deputy Commissioner.
“The BJP and other Sangh Parivar organisations are making serious efforts to separate religious communities that have coexisted peacefully for generations in Bidar and spark communal bloodshed.” They’re acting in the name of patriotism. This broader plan includes the RSS camp in the government school. If the administration does not take action to stop the continuing camp and punish the policemen involved, we will storm the camp and remove the RSS from the school grounds,” Avinash Dine, another leader, stated following the agitation.
Bandeppa Kashempur, a Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Bidar South MLA, also wrote to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday, denouncing the RSS camp’s organisation and demanding action against the personnel who authorised it. The nine-day session begins on October 8 and concludes on October 16.
In another agitation on the same topic, the Janata Dal(S) student wing marched from Ambedkar Circle to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and conducted a rally before delivering a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner seeking the removal of personnel who allowed the camp to take up.
“Despite severe opposition from various Dalit organisations and the Janata Dal (S), the district administration is taking no action against the officials who have enabled the RSS camp at the government school, nor is it making any move to halt the camp”. If the district government maintains its rigidity and permits the camp, we would be forced to escalate our agitation,” Abhi Kale, district president of the student’s wing, stated during the demonstration.
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