Bharat Bandh: Normal life hit in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand

Normal life was affected in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha due to disruptions in rail and road traffic, forced closure of offices and vandalism of properties during the 'Bharat Bandh' called by Dalit and tribal organisations against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The bandh turned violent in different parts of Uttar Pradesh, with about 40 persons, including over a dozen police personnel getting injured in violent clashes. Five persons, including four Dalit youth, sustained bullet injuries in firing between agitated mob and police in Meerut and Hapur districts.

Besides two police outposts, over 100 buses, private vehicles, two-wheelers were torched by the agitated mob. About 448 trouble-makers, including a former BSP MLA, were arrested in connection with the violence during Bharat Bandh.

A shopkeeper was shot at in Hapur district when he refused to down the shutter. Police had to open fire to disperse a mob of dalit youth firing indiscriminately on streets in Meerut district. The mob also damaged the official vehicle of the SSP and District Magistrate after setting Shobhapur police outpost on fire in Kankarkheda area in the district.

In Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's hometown Gorakhpur, lathi-weilding Dalit youth forced closure of markets and offices. Police remained a mute spectator to followers of father of Constitution unleashing a rejig of terror on streets in Gorakhpur and districts of Western Uttar Pradesh.

In Bihar, large-scale demonstrations were held, roads blocked and trains stopped, throwing normal life out of gear, during the day long Bharat bandh called by various Dalit and tribal organisations against dilution of the SC/ST Act.

The demonstrations were mainly led by Bhim Army, though the bandh was supported by Bihar's main Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal and smaller political outfits such as the Hindustani Awam Morcha - Secular of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Left front.

Since morning, the bandh supporters disrupted trains in districts like Nalanda, Nawada, Bhojpur and Araria. Several of the national and state highways were also blocked, results in long queues of vehicles, stranded on the roads for hours. Shops were vandalised in Gopalganj district while court premises was vandalised Darbhanga. Trains were also stopped in Darbhanga.

While some states ordered closure of educational institutions and curtailed communication and transport services, including rail, incidents of arson and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Utar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab, among other states.

Curfew was imposed in Morena, Gwalior and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh after a student leader died in firing and several others were injured.

WHY THE PROTEST

• On March 20, the apex court observed that a law that was primarily enacted to protect the disenfranchised has become a tool to “blackmail” innocent people and public servants.
• The SC/ST Act, enacted to protect the marginalised has been used to exact “vengeance,” a bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit had said.
• “The legislature never intended to use the Atrocities Act as an instrument to blackmail or to wreak personal vengeance,” they said.