Activists end ‘long march’ to Chaityabhoomi in vehicles after police deny permission to walk

Detained DYFI activists interact with police personnel in Chembur on Wednesday. (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)

ACTIVISTS FROM Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) ended their long march to Chaityabhoomi on Wednesday in vehicles after the Mumbai Police denied them permission to reach Dadar on foot.

Close to 350 protesters had camped at Adarsh Vidyalaya in Chembur on Tuesday night after they were released from detention. However, when they sought to resume their march on foot on Wednesday morning, the police did not allow them to go ahead.

“We did not give them permission to walk to Dadar because it would be dangerous to do so on highways,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (East region) Lakhmi Gautam.

The stalemate ended at 5.45 pm after police persuaded the protesters to march on foot. “They agreed to go to Chaityabhoomi in vehicles,” Gautam added.

Throughout Wednesday, however, the DYFI continued to protest the “authoritarian manner” in which the state government had prevented them from reaching Chaityabhoomi on foot and also criticised the Mumbai Police for not allowing them to leave the school premises.

Over 1,400 protesters from across the state began the march at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Uran on Sunday. Police had first briefly stopped the march in Uran, detained some 100 protesters in Kalamboli on Monday and finally arrested and later released close to 900 protesters in Belapur on Tuesday, for conducting a march without obtaining permission.