Police block Mevanikhalid event
MAHA UNREST Students held for protesting cancellation of event after FIR against the two
MUMBAI: A day after the Dalit protests virtually shut down the financial capital of India, the Mumbai police, on Thursday, denied permission for a convention where Dalit activist-legislator Jignesh Mevani and JNU student leader Umar Khalid were scheduled to speak.
The two have been booked for allegedly inciting the January 1 violence in which two groups clased at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district.
Authorities also detained several leaders of the student organisation Chhatra Bharati, which organised the event at Bhaidas Hall in Vile Parle.
The police put barriers before the gates of the auditorium and issued a notice to the organisers warning that they would be held responsible for any unlawful activity that took place following speeches by Mevani and Khalid.
The move was met with angry protests and the police detained at least 50 student protesters who had come to attend the event. Several student leaders were also detained after the protest.
Sagar Bhalerao, Maharashtra president of the Chhatra Bharati, said the day-long event, called as the All India Students Summit, was planned two months ago.
Bhalerao accused the police of acting at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-shiv Sena government in the state. “Jignesh Mevani and Umar Khalid told the organisers this morning (Thursday) that they will not attend the programme, because of the FIR filed against them. So there was no reason to not let the programme happen. But the government is against our organisation, and found a reason to stop this gathering,”said Bhalerao.
Mumbai president of Chhatra Bharati, Sachin Bansode, said, “When we invited Mevani two months ago, he was not even an MLA. We invited him in the capacity of a student leader. Similarly, Umar Khalid’s name has been cleared by the SC...”