Navsarjan Trust’s Dalit yatra kicked off August 1 from Nani Devti village in Sanand taluka of Ahmadabad district. The yatra, a public awareness campaign to abolish untouchability, was supposed to cross several states and conclude in Delhi. However, the yatra, called the ‘Bhim Rudan’, came across a hurdle.
After crossing Rajasthan, the yatra was supposed to enter Haryana through the Sajapur border to reach Delhi on Sunday night. However, the Haryana police apprehended the yatra and refused to let it enter the state. The activists were faced with police carrying water canons and boulders.
According to sources, the Trust did not have permission to carry out its rally in Haryana and so, had to be stopped. The police produced a written instruction from the Ministry of Home Affairs, clearly stating to let the yatra enter Haryana and Delhi. The police offered the activists food and a place to stay overnight, but they refused. Consequently, the activists have begun their journey back to Ahmedabad on Monday evening.
The activists were carrying a specially designed 1,000-kilogram brass coin that is 2047 mm in diameter and stands at 10 feet. The coin has been engraved with a question, “Will the 1947 dream of untouchability-free India be a reality in 2047?” The yatra was organized to commemorate Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and his dream to abolish untouchability from India. Navsarjan Trust was supposed to donate the coin to the Parliament in Delhi.
Veteran Gujarat Dalit leader Martin Macwan of Navsarjan Trust announced the yatra in July. Talking about the yatra’s cause, he said, “Our demand is simple, keep this coin in the Parliament as a reminder to the MPs and other leaders that it is their raj-dharma to obliterate untouchability and to remember that it is still not gone from our country.”
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