The Joint Action Committee (JAC), which has been at the forefront of organising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and related issues, released a strongly worded statement on Tuesday night, accusing the Mumbai Police of ‘trying to sabotage’ their recent protest.
The agitation, which was held at Azad Maidan on December 27, was planned as a rally — Inquilab Morcha — from Byculla to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. However, after the police denied permission, it was changed to a peaceful protest at Azad Maidan, which witnessed participation in large numbers.
The JAC had planned another event — Jashn-e-Ekta concert — at Carter Road on Tuesday, which was supposed to be a song and poetry recitation event to raise awareness of the CAA, the National Registry of Citizens, and the police action on protesters across the country. The police, however, did not issue permission and it had to be cancelled.
In a series of tweets from their official handle on Tuesday night, JAC said, “The denial of permission by Mumbai Police for jashn-e-ekta concert is unfortunate. While we are grateful to Mumbai Police for maintaining peace in the city during anti-CAA protests, it is important to highlight how it tried to sabotage Inquilab Morcha held at AzadMaidan on Friday as well.”
JAC talked about how the permission for Inquilab Morcha was denied citing security concerns, traffic issues, and challenges in crowd management. “However, in the recent past several large rallies, including Kisan March, Maratha Morcha & the protest against death of Rohith Vemula, have followed this very route. Besides, almost all of the anti-CAA rallies in the city’s suburbs & rest of the state were peaceful & disciplined,” the tweets said.
The organisation alleged that the police tried to sabotage the Azad Maidan protest. “To begin, the police roped in some of self-anointed leaders of Muslim community in the city to dissuade organisers from carrying out the rally. Two days before the protest at meeting of Muslim organisations in Khilafat House, these leaders resorted to fear-mongering about the event. However, they were bogged down due to overwhelming public opinion in its favour. The next day, there were identical stories in Urdu media proclaiming that the police had denied permission to the rally, even though the approval process was still on. The stories were clearly planted, as they cited unnamed police sources. This despite the fact that the organisers hadn’t received any communication from the police till then,” JAC tweeted.
Making a direct accusation against Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve, JAC tweeted, “The same day, while organisers discussed possibility of carrying out rally, police Commissioner Sanjay Barve conducted meeting with some Muslim ‘religious scholars’ in Nagpada to pour cold waters over community’s concerns regarding CAA-NRC & discourage frm participating. At the meeting, the commissioner proclaimed that CAA & NRC won’t affect Muslims in India. This statement is not only misleading but also unbecoming of senior police official, who should be focusing on carrying out responsibility of maintaining law and order and not giving political speeches.”
Mr. Barve is also alleged to have dissuaded the community from taking to streets against the CAA and the NRC by saying Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already announced that the NRC won’t be implemented in the State.
“If you have anything to say, pray to God, said police chief...Barve also tried to discredit the anti-CAA movement, saying that most of those seeking permission for rally are from ‘left’. This despite the fact that the organisers belong to a diverse ideological spectrum including Ambedkarism and Islamism. We know their backgrounds and their intent, he said in a blatant attempt to smear a student-led non-political effort,” JAC tweeted.
The JAC also alleged that the police detained volunteers who were campaigning for the rally in Nagpada and Byculla, citing their prohibitory orders against unlawful assembly.
There was no comment from the Mumbai Police till the time of going to press.
