The protesters marched to Mulund Check Naka which is a key entry point of the gateway to Mumbai city on Monday night. They were barred by police and were not allowed to enter the city
Team Clarion
MUMBAI – Thousands of protesters led by All India Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and former Lok Sabha MP, Imtiaz Jaleel, held a protest march demanding action against BJP leader and MLA Nitesh Rane and Hindu preacher Ramgiri Maharaj over separate hate speech cases registered against them.
The protest march, called ‘Tiranga Samvidhan Rally’, was organised by the AIMIM and other political and social groups, left Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in hundreds of vehicles on Monday afternoon, and reached Mulund toll plaza late evening in an attempt to enter Mumbai.
Hundreds of vehicles from different parts of Marathwada reached Sambhajinagar and started towards Mumbai via Samruddhi Super Expressway. Police said this was the first time the Samruddhi Expressway witnessed a jam due to hundreds of vehicles participating in the rally, media reports said.
Jaleel emphasised that the state government had failed to take appropriate action despite numerous complaints against both. He said he planned to present a physical copy of the Constitution to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis as a reminder of their duty to uphold law and order in the region.
However, as the protestors marched to Mulund Check Naka which is a key entry point of the gateway to Mumbai city on Monday night, they were barred by police and were not allowed to enter the city. The police installed barricades and deployed over 3,000 cops to manage the situation.
Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Satyanarayan Choudhary, who was at the spot monitoring the situation, confirmed the crowd left Monday night after handing over their letter to govt representatives. Close to 2,000 vehicles were part of the protest, an officer said. He added that the rally was also joined by vehicles comprising activists from the Dalit and Maratha communities.
The protesters dispersed peacefully after delivering their representation to the divisional collector and other officials.
Subsequently, Jaleel expressed his disappointment and described the police action as “dirty politics” by the ruling government. He said it was not merely a protest for justice but for the identity of Maharashtra, its pride, and its cultural heritage, invoking historical figures like Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Ambedkar, and Shivaji Maharaj.
