Police dossier says BSP funding Bhim Sena

LUCKNOW: A report prepared by the UP police and intelligence department after Saharanpur caste clashes says that Bahujan Samaj Party is giving tacit support to

Bhim Army

which is being seen responsible behind the violence. The report – TOI has a copy of it – says that the Bhim Army is being supported by the Bahujan Samaj Party. It also emphasises that BSP national vice-president and Mayawati’s borther Ananad Kumar funds this organisation.

The dossier has special focus on the outfit’s patron Chandra Shekhar, a lawyer from Saharanpur fighting against “injustice and social discrimination by upper castes. Vinay Ratan is the ïts national president.

As the Saharanpur continues to be in grip of violence, the Bhim Army is posing challenge to the state police as despite visit by the then principal secretary (home)

Debashish Panda

and DGP Sulkhan Singh, situation could not be controlled. The challenge for chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi is that Saharanpur incidents are being compared to Muzaffarnagar carnage during Akhilesh Yadav’s regime.

The situation in and around Saharanpur is tense after killing of Dalit youth by Rajputs in clashes following visit of BSP chief Mayawati on May 23. Police are fearing the rise of Bhim Sena—Bhim stands for Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar—as a counterpart of Hindu Yuva Vahini.

“The

Bhim Sena

is being supported by the BSP and it has also come to light that national vice-president of party and its chief Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar is funding the fledgling Dalit outfit,” underlines the report. Former BSP MLA

Ravindra Kumar Golhoo

of Ram Maniharan assembly of Saharanpur is wooing the Sena convenor Chandra Shekhar to bolster his poll prospects, the report says.

Similarly, Shayan Masood, grandson of Rashid Masood (former minister and MP) is also inclined towards this organisation. The report also alerts that Muslims leaders forming a Dalit-Muslim alliance against the BJP might cause communal tension in the days to come in this region.

The report also states that the Bhim Army, also called Bhim Sena or Bharat Ekta Mission has the support of the CPIM ( M-L) , apart from the BSP and is mobilising youth of dalit community to unite them against the upper caste exploitation and atrocities against them.

Social media is playing key role in instigating dalits to join the Bhim Army and the likes of Bhawan Meghwanshi, a journalist and ideologue are posting write-ups and appeals to dalits to join the outfit. Bhim Sena has an official account on the FB site and has given account numbers of SBI and Paytm for donations.

The report states that any incident against Dalits gets immediately posted on the FB and an action plan is finalised to reach the troubled spots to ensure justice to Dalit “victims”. Portrait of Rohit Vemula, a dalit student whose suicide in his hostel room in Hyderabad after getting beaten up by ABVP members last year had shaken the conscience of the nation is posted on Bhim Sena’s FB page.

There is an appeal on this page to dalits to reach Delhi for the protest against the BJP government of UP for inaction against the accused. Writer of the text is Avesh Dev Burman. Jignesh Mewani has also joined the Bhim Sena’s movement against the BJP government of the state.

Another Bhim Army volunteer Neetu Gautam is appealing on the FB page for donations to be put into the SBI Karol Bagh branch account. Bhim Sena page has 1,200 committed followers and it is rapidly becoming popular among Dalit youth, the report says.