The Mumbai Police detained protesters at suburban Chembur on Wednesday after they raised slogans against PM Modi, saying, “Jab jab Modi darta hai, police ko aage karta hai” (whenever Modi gets scared, he deploys the police).
Despite heavy police deployment, close to 300 individuals including students, parents, youngsters and senior citizens gathered near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Garden in Chembur in Mumbai around 1 pm and began chanting slogans demanding the resignations of PM Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the police, the protestors in Chembur, who were not led by any political party, carried placards reading, “Anpad government kya jaane education ka swaad” (What does an illiterate government know about education) and ‘Jaldi resign lo kal savere Panvel bhi jaana hai’ (Please resign quickly as we are heading for Panvel tomorrow), among others.
The protesters also stamped over photos and images of Modi and Pradhan until the police rushed to the spot, detained several protesters, and dragged them away on the road.
After detaining the protesters in Chembur, the police dispersed the remaining protestors from the Ambedkar Garden protest venue. However, undeterred by the police action, protesters returned to the ground and restarted the demonstration, though with fewer participants. Some alleged that they were stopped on their way to Ambedkar Garden.
The protesters said that the demonstrations will continue until demands of the Cockroach Janta Party, which has been protesting at Jantar Mantar, are met.
“We are demanding accountability from the government,” said one of the protesters.
After news spread about the Chembur protest, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena issued a statement that if any protesters supporting the NEET student protestors face any kind of legal action during the protest, they should reach out to the party through shivsenaubtlegal@gmail.com or contact the party through its WhatsApp numbers as well as telephone numbers.
The support by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena follows the arrest of around 900 individuals from Shivaji Park on Tuesday, who were demanding the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
After the police detained protestors from Shivaji Park, 12 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered against the protesters, and investigation is on, the police said.