Shiv Sena leader lies down on road to protest COVID-19 restrictions

Prominent Shiv Sena leader and farm activist Kishore Tiwari. Pic/ANI Twitter

Prominent Shiv Sena leader and farm activist Kishore Tiwari launched a unique agitation by lying down on a main road in Maharashtra's Pandharkawada town to protest against what he called "illegal enforcement of lockdown" in the ongoing Unlock phase, here on Monday.

The President of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) Tiwari spread a bedsheet on the main road junction and lay down in the afternoon, attracting a large crowd, and even the local police.

"Since the past five months, the economy is in shambles. People have no jobs, no source of income and shops and businesses are shut. The central and state governments have already started Unlock in phases, but it is not seen in Pandharkawada," Tiwari told IANS, while lying on the bedsheet.

He said that whenever new Covid cases are detected in the town, the local authorities and police immediately seal large areas and declare containment or isolation zones covering big localities for at least three weeks.

"This is totally uncalled for. There are banks, shopping areas, residential localities which are shut down due to the local administration and police orders. Such series of long restrictions on public movement are not seen even in Mumbai, Pune or Thane, the three cities worst-hit by Covid-19," fumed Tiwari.

While the police cajoled him to give up his agitation, a local medical team came and checked Tiwari's health.

He warned that unless all "unnecessary restrictions" are lifted by Monday night, he would launch an indefinite hunger strike at the same spot.

Yavatmal has reported 1,466 cases and 44 deaths till date, besides 960 recoveries and the rest are 'active cases'.

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