Thousands of activists swarmed Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Sunday to protest against atrocities on Dalits in Saharanpur. The march, which was brought together by an organisation known as the Bhim Army, saw participation of All India Students' Association, and various other groups.
The protesters gathered in large numbers despite being denied permission by the Delhi Police a day before the march. Several Dalit unions had sought permission from Delhi police on Saturday for a gathering of over 50,000 protesters.
The police had to make adequate arrangements to control the increasing number of agitators on Delhi's famous protest grounds.
"Adequate number of policemen were deployed and barricading was done to control the floating mob. There was a gathering of more than 5,000 protesters and the protest lasted for about two and a half hours," BK Singh, DCP, New Delhi said.
The protest was held to demand an investigation into the May 5 violence in Saharanpur, and compensation for Dalits whose houses were burnt. The demonstrators also asked for legal actions against the perpetrators.
More than 2,000 members from a community allegedly gheraoed a village in Saharanpur earlier this month, and set fire to more than two dozen houses belonging to Dalits. Their houses were torched in retaliation to a clash which broke out during a commemorative rally.
Protesters raised flags and slogans at the venue and demanded justice from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging mistreatment by the state administration. The march was led by Bhim Army chief Chander Shekhar, social activist Jignesh Mewani and former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.
"In Saharanpur also, we saw that Dalit women and children were attacked and their houses set afire. But no politician has criticised the incident or protested against it. If preventive measures were taken in Saharnpur, the situation would have been better," social activist Jignesh Mewani said.
