Protesters say it was a peaceful show of support against violence in Kolhapur’s Gajapur village; no permission sought, says police
The human chain at Mumbra
A massive human chain protest was held by thousands of citizens in Mumbra on Friday afternoon to condemn the vandalism and violence that occurred near Kolhapur’s Vishalgad fort and Gajapur Mosque. It was a silent protest. In response, the Mumbra police registered a case against approximately 145 individuals who participated in the peaceful demonstration.
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Some activists have raised concerns about the police action, labelling it as biased. The Mumbra police on Saturday filed a case against 145 people under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and under relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act.
On Tuesday, the Kolhapur district administration removed 80 of 158 encroachments on Vishalgad Fort amid heavy police bandobast. The district administration began removing the encroachments after they received in-principle approval for demolishing only those structures which were not covered under a court stay order. Later, violence occurred at Gajapur village, six kilometres from Vishalgad Fort, and the mosque was vandalised.
After the violence and vandalism videos went viral on social media, many people from different districts gave a letter to the Collector and other authorities against the incident. Mumbra residents decided to protest silently by forming a human chain.
“The police called all the well-known names and asked them to cancel the protest, telling them that it would be illegal because no permission was secured from the competent authority. But it was decided that the protest will be held after Friday prayers,” said a local.
Rafiq Kamdar, one of the activists named in the FIR, who is also a senior reporter from Mumbra, said, “In the FIR, the police claims we were protesting against the action taken against the illegal structure which is wrong. The protest was against the attack on humans and vandalism. Ruling party members and others were present, but the FIR includes only a few names.”
Anil Shinde, senior police inspector, Mumbra police station, confirmed the case had been registered and said, “We have registered a case as the protest was carried out without securing any official permission.” When questioned as to why only few names were added in the FIR, Shinde said, “We have added the names that we found on primary basis. We will add more names as we go along.”
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