'Satyagraha and development can co-exist'

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Three days after the BMC filed a complaint against the Mumbai Bagh protesters accusing them of obstructing road construction work on Morland Road, the two sides have agreed that both 'satyagraha' and development can coexist.

A delegation representing the protesters, who have been staging a sit-in on Morland Road against the amended Citizenship Act for over a fortnight now, met BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Monday.

Feroze Mithiborwala, one of the members, told mid-day, "The concrete road has been ready for a long time now...it is the work on the footpath that needs to be completed. Both - satyagraha and construction - will take place side by side. As and when they [BMC] need us [protesters] to adjust, we will do so."

Corporator Kaptan Malik, also a delegation member, said, "We gave the commissioner our assurance that while carrying out our agitation we won't cause any hindrance to the construction work." When questioned about the FIR against the protesters, he said, "It is against unknown people." MLA Rais Shaikh, who was at the BMC chief's office when the delegation arrived, said the "FIR that has been filed is malicious". BMC Assistant Commissioner Alka Sasane had filed a complaint on February 7.

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