Thousands took to the streets on Tuesday, blocking arterial roads, including the Eastern Express Highway and Eastern Freeway, and staging a rail roko on the Harbour Line. They were protesting the attack on a group of Dalits near Pune on Monday, allegedly by a right-wing organisation, where one person was killed.
The group was on its way to Bhima-Koregaon, where, every year, members of the community gather on the anniversary of a famous battle. There, 200 years ago, a small company of British East India Company soldiers, which included around 500 members of the Mahar community, fought and held off the Peshwa’s army, which far outnumbered them. This battle was towards the end of the Third Anglo-Maratha War, which ended the regime of the Peshwas. Dalits celebrate the anniversary in an assertion of community pride every year.
The Mumbai protests began when followers of the Republican Party of India (RPI) gathered outside the garbage dump at Mulund. Raju Salve, an RPI member said, “This protest is against casteism. Every year, lakhs of people go to pay their respects at Bhima-Koregaon. This time, however, our people were victims of a pre-planned attack. Over 40 to 50 buses carrying members of our community were torched.”
Protest escalates
Despite heavy police presence, the protest escalated, and a crowd started moving towards Mulund railway station, which the police did not allow as it would have caused problems for ordinary citizens. The protesters and the police clashed near the station, and the police resorted to a lathi charge, which escalated tensions. Shops were shut down in Mulund, allegedly by force.
“Emotions were running high, the situation got out of hand and we had to respond accordingly,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VII) Akhilesh Singh said.
“The police troubled us a lot today,” Anita Sonawane, a member of the RPI, said. “Women members of the police force attempted to beat me and another female protester. We, as a community, have been victims of atrocities for centuries but we have never got justice, Are we not human beings?”
Protesters later gathered in several other parts of the city, and shops also closed in parts of Chembur.
At Chembur Naka, a large group staged a rasta roko while the police tried to reason with them. The protesters threw stones at buses and burned tyres in the middle of the road; a few political party offices were also vandalised. From there, the protesters moved to Amar Mahal junction on the Eastern Express Highway, and brought traffic to a standstill there. As the police were trying to disperse the mob, hundreds more joined in, and stones were thrown, leading to another lathi charge by the police. The protestors also blocked railway tracks near Chembur railway station, which affected Harbour Line services till Tuesday evening.
Residents of Ramabai Nagar, Ghatkopar, which had been tense since Monday night, also spilled out on the adjoining Eastern Express Highway. “Traffic was affected at Ramabai Nagar, Kamraj Nagar and Chheda Nagar on the Eastern Express Highway, and traffic was diverted to the LBS Road,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar said.
Navi Mumbai hit
Police officials said traffic was restored to normal only around 8 p.m., but effects of the protest were felt in the rest of the city, with office-goers leaving for home early and taxi drivers in several parts of the city refusing fares going towards eastern Mumbai. “We have been hearing reports of tension in the eastern suburbs and have all decided to only take short distance fares to avoid any hassles,” Ramprasad Jaiswal, a taxi driver who plies in south Mumbai, said. “None of us want to take any chances.”
Mumbai Police spokesperson, DCP Sachin Patil, said, “Over 100 people have been detained based on CCTV footage, and will be charged under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act and the Indian Penal Code. Bandobast has been deployed throughout the city, with the entire strength of the force supplemented by six companies of the State Reserve Police Force, which were already on standby.”
In Navi Mumbai, police detained protesters in several places. While no incidents were reported in Zone II, Zone I DCP Sudhakar Pathare said, “Protestors in Rabale pelted stones at two shops and broke glass panes. At Rabale MIDC they did unlawful gathering at two different places and broke glass on an Inspector's vehicle. At NRI Complex, protestors pelted stones and broke windows of two state-run buses. We have registered cases in all these incidents and have also arrested some of them. We have had bandobast all over our jurisdiction and had strike force and SRPF platoons for the bandobast and nakabandi.” — Inputs by Raina Assainar
