August 21 was declared as ‘Bharat Bandh’ due to the verdict of Supreme Court for the reservations of SC and ST tribes. The JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress decided to extend their support for the reservations for these tribes. The NACDAOR has taken this decision to oppose the seven-judge bench decision made by Supreme Court which was a nine-bench decision earlier.
The effects of the Bharat Bandh protests could be seen in regions like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. These protests were dominated by tribal and Dalit communities. The markets and various sub-urban regions remained closed on 21 August 2024, in Gujarat. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand and Rajasthan, turbulent protests were seen. Where, public bus stands, railway tracks, roads and buildings were vandalised. Due to this, the schools and offices were closed to ensure the safety to the people.
Bihar and other affected areas-
A video shared by a news agency showed how the protesters set a fire on a school bus. Children that were present in the bus were horrified. The Bihar police used water cannons and lathi-charges to hold up the protesters for Bharat Bandh. The Darbhanga and Buxar railway stations were closed yesterday and all the lines were diverted.
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The affected areas were Purnea, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Hajipur and many others. The Patna police have filed 3 FIRs. They have taken 9 people in custody for taking the matters allegedly in their hands rather than the police. The national highway 83 was engaged in confrontations which resulted in death of 5 persons.
This Bharat Bandh protest was called by 21 communities and organisations in response to the judgement of Supreme Court on August 1. The judgement ordered to sub-classify the reservations and quotas of Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes communities. The judgement from the Supreme Court was meant to be beneficial for more deserving and underprivileged people but it didn’t turn out to be a successful one.
