Explained: Bhima Koregaon Commission

The panel set up to inquire into the 2018 violence has suspended work till provision of suitable accommodation

The has suspended all hearings till the provides it a suitable accommodation in Mumbai.

On January 1, 1818, a battle between the Peshwas and the British resulted in the overthrow of the Peshwas. To honour the valour of the soldiers, a Vijay Stambh, a war memorial was built . In 1921, on January 1, Dr B.R. Ambedkar visited the site which resulted in the initiation of an annual tradition to commemorate the occasion. Thereafter every year on January 1, large numbers of Bahujan gather at the Vijay Stambh to pay tribute to Dalits.

On December 12, 2017, a public meeting by the name of ‘Elgar Parishad’ was organised in Pune at Shanivar Wada, 30 kilometres from Koregaon. On January 1, 2018 a large crowd of Dalits and Bahujans gathered at the Vijay Stambh. They were attacked by armed mobs of over 1,000 people, most of them on motorbikes holding saffron flags and shouting religious and political slogans. They engaged in violence including arson, stone pelting and attacks with swords, iron rods. This resulted in the death of a 28-year-old man and considerable loss of private and public property.