Umar Khalid and Jignesh Mevani have been accused of making provocative speeches that triggered caste tension between upper caste Marathas and Dalits. The tension has swept across Maharashtra for the last four days.
The state-wide protests by Dalit groups called for a bandh that brought parts of Maharashtra to a grinding halt. The Mumbai Police denied permission for the All India National Students’ Summit on Thursday where JNU student leader Umar Khalid and newly elected Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani were invited as guests. The organizer of the event said that they had booked Bhaidas Hall for All India National Students’ Summit but they were denied entry.
The news has been doing the rounds about Umar Khalid and Jignesh Mevani for the past few days. The case filed against Umar Khalid and Jignesh Mevani accused them of creating enmity between people by their provocative speeches at an event in Pune on December 31.
Clashes broke out the next day between local right-wing groups and Dalits attending the bi-centennial celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle. According to the reports, a 28-year-old upper caste man died and 12 people were seriously injured. Since then there have been massive protests and violence by alleged supporters of Dalit groups across Maharashtra. Police filed 16 cases and more than 300 people were detained in Mumbai after a bandh or strike called by Dalit groups on Wednesday. The Dalit protesters damaged buses and blocked rail and road traffic in Mumbai and its suburbs and other parts of Maharashtra. Two persons died on Wednesday, a 16-year-old who crushed to death while escaping police, reports said.
News agency Press Trust of India reported that the Mumbai police refused permission for an event “All India Students Summit 2018”, this morning, where Mr. Khalid and Mr. Mevani and were invited. The Mumbai police took some of the students in preventive custody as they decided to proceed with the event anyway,
Meanwhile, Mumbai police detained event organizers and a few students to restore law and order in the capital city that has already witnessed protests and violence in the last 2-3 days during Dalit protests. Section 149 was imposed in parts of Mumbai by the administration.
There was a commotion outside city’s Bhaidas Hall as scores of cops started picking protesting students for detention and took them to Juhu police station. The Bhaidas Hall is situated on Gulmohar Road where half a dozen colleges are also located. The hall was very crowded due to the event “All India Students Summit 2018”.
Juhu police have issued a notice to Chatra Bharti under Section 141 of the CRPC, it states that permission was denied for the event in the context of the state-wide bandh.
The event was to take place at the Bhaidas Auditorium in Vile Parle on Thursday between 11 am and 6 pm. The event organizers were confident that it would take place as per the schedule despite not getting police permission. Sachin Bansode, one of the organizers said: “All the speakers confirmed that they would come and we were expecting a great session.”
