Even after passing of 27 years to the tragicincident of Gowari when 114 Gowari community members died in the stampede near Morris College T-Point, their main demand for granting them the category of Scheduled Tribes has not yet been resolved.
As per estimates, there are over two lakh Gowari community members residing in Vidarbha region. They are from weaker sections of society and live as tribals in different remote villages. They have to toil hard to earn their bread and butter and pull on life.
There simple demand was they should be given the status of Schedule Tribes as given to other tribals so that they can get different facilities to achieve their progress. Their issue was held help just because of a comma in between Gond and Gowani at Delhi for many years. The members resorted to agitations many times in support of the demand but they got nothing, except promises by the then ruling party leaders about solving their grievances.
same demand veciferously. The leaders and workers participating in the huge morcha were stopped by police at the barricade put upat
In such one agitation, the Gowaris decided to take out a massive morcha to the Council Hall here on November 23, 1994 to press the Morris College T-Point. The leaders politely told the cops that wanted to meet either Sharad Pawar, the then Chief Minister, or the Tribal Development Minister to submit the memorandum and discuss the long-pending issue with them but in vain.
The leaders went on waiting at that spot till evening demanding that the minister should come there to address them. However, nobody came. Looking at the tense situation, the police resorted to lathi
[7:29 pm, 22/11/2021] Komal: charge and bursting of tear gas shells, resulting in a stampede. There were no two or three outlets from where the people could go out and created melee. As many as 114 Gowari community members were killed with their clothes, bags or chappals strewn on the street/lane. The community members took long time to recover from the shock.
The government constructed a memorial at the Zero Mile, where political leaders and members come every year on this day to pay their tributes. Tomorrow, it is expected that the tribute programmes would be held on low key owing to coronavirus pandemic. The Gowaris are still anxiously waiting for somebody to shed their tears off.
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