Meerut: In a bid to protest the alleged witch-hunting of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, the Dalit organization has called for a mahapanchayat in Saharanpur on November 9.According to Bhim Army members, they have decided to hold a peaceful sit-in near Ravidas Hostel, close to the office of senior superintendent of police, on Dehradun Road in Saharanpur on Thursday.On November 2, hours after the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Chandrashekhar the Saharanpur district administration slapped the stringent National Security Act on him. Since then, the Bhim Army has been mobilizing support through social media campaigns to ensure a high turnout at the mahapanchayat. The outfit has created several Facebook pages sharing video of Chandrashekhar addressing his supporters during a court visit recently. “Our fight is against injustice. We will keep opposing atrocities on Dalits and other marginalized sections of the society,” the Dalit leader can be seen saying in the video.The video has been widely circulated on Facebook pages, including the home page of Bhim Army, which has more than 1 lakh followers.The outfit’s supporters have also been active on Twitter with individuals tweeting with hashtag #StandwithChandrashekhar. Several groups working for Dalits have thrown their weight behind the mahapanchayat and have been sharing campaign details on social media.“Slapping NSA on Chandrashekhar was a politically-motivated move. We have called a mahapanchayat to brainstorm on our further course of action. We have been getting a lot of support from youngsters belonging to all communities. We are expecting a large turnout on November 9,” Kalyan Singh, national spokesperson of the Bhim Army, said.Meanwhile, Saharanpur administration has said that the event cannot take place as Section 144 of CrPC is already in place in the district. “The organization had sought permission to submit a memorandum to the district administration. They have been warned against holding a protest and action will be taken if they do not obey the orders. The local intelligence unit has already been pressed into action to thwart any attempts to create a law and order situation,” Saharanpur SSP Babloo Kumar said.

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