Mumbai Police attempts to thwart peaceful protest against murderers of Mohsin Sheikh Hundreds of activists assembled at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on 5th June, 2014 evening defying the intimidation by Mumbai Police and held a protest demonstration against the brutal murder of Mohsin Sheikh by rightwing Hindutwa forces. The protest programme was organized jointly by DYFI, SFI, AIDWA, All India Secular Forum and Communalism Combat magazine. Under the pretext of protesting against a claimed Facebook posting insulting the revered historical figure of Maharashtra Chhatrapati Shivaji as well as the late Shivsena leader Bal Thackeray, criminals belonging to the Hindutwa Parivar had been assaulting members of the Muslim community and destroying property in Pune and some other cities of Maharashtra for several days last week. As part of this violent campaign, on 2nd June, 2014 Mohsin Sheikh, a 29-year youth working in an IT company was bludgeoned to death by armed rightwing criminals roaming the streets of Pune. The only earning member of his family, Mohsin Sheikh, was murdered for no reason other than that of being a bearded Muslim youth! After murdering him, the members of the Hindu Rashtra Sena exchanged sms worded as “one wicket has fallen”! The culture of cruelty perpetrated by Hindutwa forces is expressed once again in all its attendant diabolism. The shocking murder was ignored by the media for two days. The news of the murder came to light only by late evening on 4th June, 2014. Upon hearing the news, office-bearers of DYFI and several other organizations decided to organize a protest demonstration next evening at Azad Maidan at the state capital. Azad Maidan happens to be the only open spot in Mumbai where authorities allow demonstrations and public gatherings. But when DYFI activists met Police authorities on 5th June morning to inform them of the planned protest programme, the officers declined even to accept the intimation letter. DYFI leaders were abused and warned against holding the programme! In the evening, dozens of police personnel were stationed at Azad Maidan threatening to arrest the organisers if the demonstration were held. But the police plans to thwart the programme failed as protesters gathered in large numbers. Dr. Irfan Engineer of All India Secular Forum, Javed Anand of Communalism Combat, CPIM State secretariat member Mahendra Singh, SFI Maharashtra President Mohan Jadhav, DYFI State Secretary Preethy Sekhar, Salim Alwari, Dr. Azimuddin and Ashok Pawar spoke at the meeting. All speakers flayed the police for its attempt to thwart the protest programme. On the one hand fascist criminals animated by BJP’s ascendancy to central government are free to roam the towns of Maharashtra intimidating, assaulting and murdering innocents. On the other hand, even Azad Maidan is being sought to be made out of bounds for secular activists to hold a peaceful gathering. Maharashtra police has an infamous record of open partisanship towards rightwing Hindutwa forces. Congress-NCP government has reinforced this patronizing attitude. Participation of uniformed police personnel in last year’s Dhule riots is well-known. Persecution of Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan of Palghar jointly by Police and Shivsena goons last year for a Facebook remark is another incident that came to light recently. In another shameful episode, last year, Police machinery and Shiv Sena had joined hands to intimidate Smt.Pushpa Bhave, well-known public intellectual, who had protested against the decision to give the name of Bal Thackeray to the stage of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan session at Chiplun. In response to her statement rightly opposing Sahitya Sammelan’s decision, Shiv Sena leaders had publicly threatened her and ‘prohibited’ her from going to Konkan region. Aligning themselves shamelessly with Shiv Sena, police authorities in Chiplun cancelled a symposium which they had decided to hold in Chiplun in which Smt.Pushpa Bhave was one of the panelists invited to speak. What is more, the police went on to issue orders asking Smt.Bhave not to enter Konkan! Cases of the nexus of Hindutwa goons and Police in Maharashtra are innumerable. It is well-known that the Sreekrishna commission report had pointed out the nexus between sections of Police and communal forces in the December1992 - January1993 anti-Muslim progrom in Mumbai. Non-implementation of Sreekrishna commission report by successive Congress-NCP governments is a telling instance of the character of these ruling parties. In fact, in Maharashtra, Congress-NCP has been eager to flaunt their own Hindutwa credentials in competition with the established Hindutwa parties. This gives legitimacy to majoritarian communal discourse and violent intimidation of minorities. The speakers at Azad Maidan protest demonstration called upon all the secular forces to unite against the threat of semi-fascism in Maharashtra. Com. Mahendra Singh pointed out that organizations like Hindu Rashtra Sena are feeling empowered with Narendra Modi government assuming office at the centre. The Pune murder, he said, is part of a larger project to destroy the secular democratic nature of our society. All the speakers demanded prompt prosecution of Mohsin Sheikh’s murderers that will lead to definite conviction. The protestors also demanded that the government must provide financial support to the family of Mohsin who was the only earning member of his family. The organisations which came together to hold the demonstration have decided to conduct protest programmes in Pune and all parts of Maharahstra to force the government to act firmly against fascist forces perpetrating violence in the state.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 14:31:34 +0000
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