When Mr. Pawar called Usha Ambhore on August 8, he never said he was from the police. “So, the gathering is at Churchgate [railway station], isn't it?” he inquired. “Yes,” replied Ms. Ambhore, poet and a member of the Khairlanji Action Committee.
The next day, the committee had planned to stage a peaceful protest at Churchgate, against the verdict of the Bombay High Court in the Khairlanji massacre case, by wearing black. The Nagpur bench of the High Court had commuted the death sentence of six of the eight accused persons in the case.
On the eve of the protest, Ms. Ambhore was besieged by a slew of phone calls from the Marine Drive police station urging her to shift the protest venue to Azad Maidan — an open ground in South Mumbai designated for agitations.
“How did they get my number?” Ms. Ambhore wondered.
Warning letters
She also received letters from two different police stations warning her against unlawful assembly. One letter stated that as per the orders of the High Court, there was a ban on protest methods such as fasting, strike, meeting, morcha and gherao in places other than the Azad Maidan.
Two police personnel also visited her house at Mulund. “We have such an important personality like you living in our area and we are unaware! That's why we have come to meet you,” they said, going on to probe the time Ms. Ambhore was to set off from her house to attend the agitation.
Another activist Urmila Pawar, who is a distinguished Marathi writer, found herself in the same situation last month.
“It was the day before the High Court verdict [July 14]. On July 13, two police personnel came home with a letter. It said, since the verdict is due and since you are a protester and a worker [of the Republican Party of India], you are served this notice, that if you disturb peace and violate law and order, an inquiry would be instituted against you,” Ms. Pawar told The Hindu .
The notice listed section 149 of the Bombay Police Act pertaining to a penalty for violating public peace through disruptive acts.
“How did they know that we would protest even before the verdict is out? This means they already knew what the court's decision would be,” Ms. Pawar said.
Many public intellectuals and writers denounced the notice given to Ms. Pawar. “I am a writer and I stay within the ambit of law. My Constitution gives me the right to speak out against injustice. The police notice is insulting. It is an attempt to stifle our voice,” she said.
According to Ms. Pawar, cases were registered against many protesters in 2006 in the aftermath of the Khairlanji killings. However, a government resolution was passed in 2007 directing the police to drop all the cases. “Then, why have our names not been erased?” she asked.
