RPI firm on Morcha; demands Patil's removal

Mumbai, Dec 2 (UNI) Mounting pressure on Maharashtra government, a faction of Republican Party of India today rejected its demand to call off its protest against the Khairlanji's dalits killing at Nagpur to be held on Monday when the winter session of the State Assembly begins there.

The appeal to postpone the protest was made by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at an all-party meeting held here today to review the situation in Maharasthra in the aftermath of widespread violence in the State on Wednesday and Thursday, triggered by the desecration of statue of dalit icon Dr B R Ambekdar at Kanpur on Tuesday.

Besides turning down the Chief Minister's appeal, RPI(Kawade) leader Jogendra Kawade also demanded the resignation of State Home Minister R R Patil, stating that dalits will get justice only after his removal. Interestingly, Prof Kawade was nominated to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to which Mr Patil, also the Deputy Chief Minister, belongs.

Various dalit organisations, including most RPI's factions, have been agitating across the State since September when four members of a dalit family were killed by a mob in Khairlanji village of Bhandara district in Vidarbha region.

Although most demands of the dalits organisations, including investigation of the killings by the Central Bureau of Investigation, have been met, yet the agitation has refused to die down. Instead, it was intensified following report of the desecration at Kanpur, resulting in widespread violence in Maharashtra.

Prof Kawade alleged that evidence of the Khairlanji's killings was first destroyed and only then its investigation was handed over first to the State CID and subsequently to CBI so as to deliberately delay it. A CBI team from Chennai yesterday formally took over the case investigation from the State CID.

''In this situation, we will get justice only after the removal of Mr Patil,'' thundered Prof Kawade.

The all-party meeting was also attended by senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, State NCP president Arun Gujarathi, Prof N D Patil (PWP), Ramdas Athavale, MP (RPI), Datta Nalavade (Shiv Sena) besides the Chief Minister and his deputy.

Earlier briefing the media at government's Sahyadri guest house where the meeting took place, Mr Deshmukh said all the parties stood for maintaining peace and he has appealed to the dalit leaders to postpone their proposed 'morcha' on December 4. He said dalit leaders were expected to take decision on his appeal in their meeting tomorrow.

But when a scribe asked if the RPI leaders were satisfied with the government action taken by the Home Minister in the Khairlanji killings, Prof Kawade got up from his chair and angrily said the morcha is being held precisely because they were not satisfied with the government action and he then left the meeting hall in a huff.

''We will organise the morcha peacefully and we appeal to the government to withdraw the ban on it imposed by the Nagpur police commissioner,'' Prof Kawade told reporters outside the hall.

When asked if the government would declare holiday on December 6 to mark the 50th death anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, the Chief Minister said the decision will be taken tomorrow.

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