Last Update: June 06, 2023, 23:42 IST
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (File Photo/PTI)
He wanted to cross-examine Fadnavis, who was the then chief minister of the state, Ambedkar wrote in a letter to the panel last week
Prakash Ambedkar, president of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, has demanded that the commission probing the January 2018 Koregaon-Bhima violence summon Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
He wanted to cross-examine Fadnavis, who was the then chief minister of the state, Ambedkar wrote in a letter to the panel last week.
He also demanded the summoning of the then Additional Chief Secretary Sumit Mullick and the then Pune Superintendent of Police Suvez Haque.
Ambedkar said in the letter, “Before asking me to depose, I would like to cross-examine the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the then Additional Chief Secretary Sumit Malik and Pune SP Suvez Haque. Request the Commission to make arrangements accordingly.”
The Commission summoned Ambedkar for statement on 5 June, but he informed in the letter that he would not be in Mumbai on that date due to prior engagements, but would be available on 14 and 15 June.
Mullick is now the sole member of the commission, which is headed by Justice (retd) JN Patel.
Violence broke out near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, during the bicentenary anniversary celebrations of the Battle of 1818, in which the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa of Pune.
Sections of the Dalit community celebrate the battle as soldiers from the East India Company included soldiers from the Mahar community. Some right-wing organizations had opposed the festival in 2018.
Meanwhile, when asked by reporters in Nagpur about Ambedkar’s demand, Dalit leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said the commission has the prerogative to decide who should be called.
The Republican Party of India leader said that Fadnavis as chief minister had worked to maintain peace during the violence and he would certainly appear before the commission.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,
