MUMBAI: Attempts by Mumbai Police and some groups to call off a protest against CAA and NCR at Mordell Road at Mumbai Central resulted in the crowd multiplying after the women refused to leave the spot. The agitation gained popularity as 'Mumbai Bagh' since it is similar to the month-long protest being held at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi.
On Saturday, police personnel told volunteers to vacate the area as they did not have permission to stage a protest. While people were being told to leave, a human chain was formed around the site to prevent police from evicting the protesters, who are mostly women. "Some people had left the spot, but suddenly, within 30 minutes, a huge crowd of women who did not know that the protest was being called off, reached the site and refused to leave. Seeing them, other women who were packing up or had left, returned and refused to leave," said Mohammad Rizwan Shaikh, a volunteer managing the crowd.
Shaikh said that on the first day there were 100-odd people, largely women, but on Saturday the number was around 2,000. A volunteer said they were concerned after a person had fired at a protest at Jamia Millia University and another fired at the protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, so they decided to call off the protest.
The sit-in entered its sixth day on Saturday, with the entire neighbourhood coming together to help each other. They arranged chairs for the elderly, provided tea to beat the night cold and passed around food. "We were not told by anyone to sit on a protest. We came here on the first day on our own, and have been peacefully protesting against what we think is wrong. We will leave when we want to," said Faiza Ahmad, who lives near the protest site.
DCP (zone III) Abhinash Kumar said the protest began around 2pm and personnel had been deployed. The problem began in the evening. "Locals said they wanted to end the protest as they had not take permission and would continue after they got it but some others were against it. This led to verbal clashes but there was no violence," said Kumar.
On Saturday, police personnel told volunteers to vacate the area as they did not have permission to stage a protest. While people were being told to leave, a human chain was formed around the site to prevent police from evicting the protesters, who are mostly women. "Some people had left the spot, but suddenly, within 30 minutes, a huge crowd of women who did not know that the protest was being called off, reached the site and refused to leave. Seeing them, other women who were packing up or had left, returned and refused to leave," said Mohammad Rizwan Shaikh, a volunteer managing the crowd.
Shaikh said that on the first day there were 100-odd people, largely women, but on Saturday the number was around 2,000. A volunteer said they were concerned after a person had fired at a protest at Jamia Millia University and another fired at the protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, so they decided to call off the protest.
The sit-in entered its sixth day on Saturday, with the entire neighbourhood coming together to help each other. They arranged chairs for the elderly, provided tea to beat the night cold and passed around food. "We were not told by anyone to sit on a protest. We came here on the first day on our own, and have been peacefully protesting against what we think is wrong. We will leave when we want to," said Faiza Ahmad, who lives near the protest site.
DCP (zone III) Abhinash Kumar said the protest began around 2pm and personnel had been deployed. The problem began in the evening. "Locals said they wanted to end the protest as they had not take permission and would continue after they got it but some others were against it. This led to verbal clashes but there was no violence," said Kumar.
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