Right wing spreads hatred, takes advantage of fault lines of religion, caste: Sharad Pawar tells Koregaon Bhima panel

Left wing is an ideology while persons belonging to the right wing take advantage of the fault lines relating to religion and caste and spread hatred among different sections of the society NCP chief Sharad Pawar told the Koregaon Bhima inquiry commissionStating that Indian Penal Code section 124A pertaining to sedition was being misused of late and being invoked to suppress liberty of people Pawar advised politicians to ensure that their speeches are devoid of inflammatory substance Pawar recorded his testimony before the commission here in connection with the January 2018 violence at the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in Pune district of MaharashtraThe panel had directed him to appear before it on May 5 and 6 to record his statement His deposition completed on Thursday When commissions lawyer Ashish Satpute asked Pawar about his concept of the right wing and the left wing ideologies he said By right wing I mean persons who take advantage of the fault lines relating to religion and caste in the society spread hatred among different sections Left wing is an ideologyTalking about the sedition charges he said In the recent times it has been observed that section 124A sedition of the IPC is often misused against people I have explained in my affidavit It is invoked to suppress their liberty and tend to stifle any voice of dissent raised in a peaceful and democratic way Pawar said the speeches of political leaders should not contain any inflammatory substance When any political leader chooses to address people he should take necessary precaution that his speech should not contain inflammatory substance which may disturb peace law and order and cause animosity amongst different sections religious groups and members of the society he saidIf any personpolitical leader chooses to do so and indulge in such public address or speech then he is responsible for the consequences he added The senior politician suggested that a place be earmarked for holding political events to avoid inconvenience to people saying that it can also act as a safeguard to public and private property as such programs turn violent Normally people want to hold politicalsocial protest demonstrations near the seat of power eg the Mantralaya in Mumbai It will be advisable if a place is earmarked for such programmes and representative of the state government ie the concerned minister or responsible person goes and meets them to accept their representation and attend to their grievances the former Union minister saidResponding to a query the 82yearold politician said police should act in accordance with the Maharashtra Police Manual so that they can gather evidence that can be used in the court of law It is the responsibility of police to maintain law and order and also to take steps to prevent antisocial elements from infiltrating and causing disturbance to any such peaceful demonstration he said When asked about the Bhima Koregaon incident Pawar said he came to know about it through media After the constitution of the commission of inquiry I received a notice from the commission requesting me to give my suggestions in the matter in accordance with the terms of reference and accordingly I have filed my affidavit before it which contains all necessary information available with me he said Pawar told the commission that he doesnt know rightwing leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote personally and had only read about them in media When asked whether he gave any media statement that polices probe in the Elgar Parishad case is a stigma on the police department Pawar said It is not correctKoregaon Bhima and Elgar Parishad are two different episodes In respect of the cases filed by the police relating to Elgar Parishad I have stated that it was not correctproper on the part of police to have filed cases against certain persons who were not present at Elgar Parishad held on December 31 2017 at Shaniwarwada Pune he said A twomember probe commission of retired chief justice of the Calcutta High Court J N Patel and former Maharashtra chief secretary Sumit Mullick is conducting a probe into the Koregaon Bhima matter According to Pune police violence had broken out on January 1 2018 between caste groups near the war memorial during the bicentennial anniversary of the 1818 battle of Koregaon BhimaThe Pune police had alleged that provocative speeches at Elgar Parishad event held in Pune on December 31 2017 had triggered violence in Koregaon Bhima They had alleged that the organisers of the conclave had links with Maoists In February 2020 social group Vivek Vichar Manch member Sagar Shinde had filed a plea before the commission seeking the summoning of Sharad Pawar in view of certain statements made by him in the media about the 2018 violence In his plea Shinde cited a press conference of PawarThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and 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