Bharat Bandh: Large Protests Seen in Bihar Over SC Sub-Quota Verdict, Mixed Response in Other States
The Wire Staff
Real journalism holds power accountable
Since 2015, The Wire has done just that.
But we can continue only with your support.
New Delhi: Police resorted to lathi charge against protestors in Patna who took in the Bharat Bandh on Wednesday, August 21.
The bandh call – given by nearly 21 Dalit and Adivasi organisations against the Supreme Court's ruling on the sub-classification of Dalit groups for reservation purposes – was strongly felt across Bihar.
Although demonstrations and marches were held in Uttar Pradesh, normal life was largely unaffected.
Road and rail services were partly affected in Odisha due to protests. It evoked a mixed response in Rajasthan and Jharkhand, PTI reported.
In Chhattisgarh, the bandh was strongly felt in the tribal-dominated areas of Bastar and Surguja as well as in the Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki and Dhamtari districts. There was a mixed response in Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgaon and Korba districts.
Similarly, in Gujarat, protestors blocked the movement of trains by demonstrating on railway tracks in Wadhwan town in Gujarat's Surendranagar district.
Barring a few protest marches and demonstrations, the bandh failed to evoke much of a response in Punjab and Haryana. There was no impact of the bandh in Assam, as schools, commercial establishments and offices operated normally.
Various political parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Left parties voiced their support for the bandh.
Union minister Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, offered "moral support" to the protesters.
"I and my party morally support the Bharat Bandh... in a peaceful manner... against the Supreme Court's SC-ST reservation decision. It is our duty to become the voice of the exploited and deprived," he posted in a detailed statement on X, in which he also recalled a Union Cabinet decision that "reservation provisions will remain as Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar made... there will be no tampering...," he wrote on X.
The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.