Political Fallout
The Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh requested Dalit leaders to maintain calm. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai, A. N. Roy, requested the state government to declare a holiday on December 6 (Dr. Ambedkar's death anniversary), but the Government decided against doing so. Deshmukh also called an all-party meeting. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi also pitched in to settle the issue.
Raj Thackeray accused the "anti-R. R. Patil forces" of fueling the riots. He also drew attention to another incident in Khairlanji, in which a Dalit man allegedly raped a girl and killed her. Thackeray demanded action on those responsible for the rape and the subsequent death of the girl, and also remarked that nobody helped the girl's family.
In Kanpur, a Congress delegation, led by former bureaucrat P.L. Punia sat on a dharna (strike), when the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police prevented them from visiting the site of desecration. RPI president Ramdas Athawale also reached Kanpur to visit the site of desecration. Earlier, he had said that he will hold protests in Kanpur against the "heinous" act. However, he alleged house arrest, after police put him under tight security in a local circuit house in Kanpur.
At the 22nd National Conference of Dalit Writers in New Delhi, the former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Mata Prasad declared that the agitation will continue through Dalit literature.
Read more about this topic: 2006 Dalit Protests In Maharashtra
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