Lakhs of devotees, neo-Buddhists, members of Ambedkarite outfits, politicians, students and other visitors are expected to congregate near the ransthamb or victory pillar in Bhima-Koregaon village for the 202nd anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle of 1818 on New Year’s Day on Wednesday. The event is about paying homage to the martyrs of the historic Bhima-Koregaon battle and we do not want boards pertaining to other issues being raised at the spot, which might cause trouble,” said Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram. Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sandip Patil said notices had been sent to all gram panchayats near Bhima-Koregaon saying they should not put up banners or hoardings with potentially offensive political or historical content. Fifteen Facebook pages have been deleted while police have removed more than 25 TikTok videos of a potentially offensive nature. Traffic along the Ahmednagar-Pune highway would be diverted from midnight on Tuesday to midnight on January 1, Mr. Patil said.

Source: The Hindu December 31, 2019 17:15 UTC