Number of Indian Americans in elected offices not reflective of their population: Kamala Harris
Phagwara/ Patna, April 10
Tension was witnessed after members of Hindu organisations, who were getting shops closed during the “Bharat Bandh” called to protest against reservation policies, were confronted by Dalits in Phagwara on Tuesday.
A minor tension was also reported at Ferozepur in Punjab, however, the situation is under control.
Bandh was observed in Ropar, Morinda and Nangal as markets remained closed.
Meanwhile, over a dozen of people were injured on Tuesday in a violent clash in Bihar police said.
Supporters, mostly upper castes youths, blocked roads and forcibly enforced the nationwide shutdown in Ara town, Bhojpur district.
“More than a dozen people were injured in the violent clash between supporters of the Bharat Bandh and a pro-reservation group comprising OBCs and Dalits,” a district police official said.
Additional security has been deployed in Ara.
According to reports reaching here, hundreds of youths opposing reservation to SC/ST and OBCs and supporting Bharat Bandh, have blocked roads at several places, halted trains and forcibly closed markets in Patna, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Muzafffarpur, Bhojpur, Sheikhpura and Darbhanga districts.
The clash comes a day after the Union Home Ministry issued an advisory to all states to take precautionary measures in view of calls on social media for the “Bharat Bandh” by various anti-reservation groups to protest clashes during the April 2 SC/ST shutdown.
The life remained by and large normal in Uttar Pradesh.
The official sources said there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state till around noon during the ongoing ‘Bharat Bandh.’
The life in state capital Lucknow remained normal with traders opening their shops and vehicles plying on the roads. The government and private offices and schools too functioned without any hinderance.
The Bharat Bandh on April 2 by Dalit groups against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by a Supreme Court order had led to violence and arson in many parts of the country which claimed several lives and left hundreds of civilians and policemen injured.
