Mumbai: Top party leaders said here on Friday that the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has cancelled its planned Maharashtra shutdown (bandh) call and will instead stage quiet sit-in protests on Saturday throughout the state with black flags and wearing black bands.
The development occurred just hours after Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar of the Bombay High Court “restrained” the MVA from enforcing the state “bandh” on Saturday in protest of a number of crimes against women, including the most recent incidence of sexual harassment in Badlapur.
The verdict came in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by activist-lawyer Gunratan Sadavarte and Subhash Jha. The governing MahaYuti leaders had criticised the MVA’s scheduled ‘bandh’ and challenged its planned action for tomorrow, calling it ‘illegal’.
The MVA’s allies decided to call off the bandh late this evening, Congress state President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar, and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray.
Despite their disagreement with the order, Thackeray emphasized the MVA’s commitment to the rule of law, stating that they would respect the court’s decision and refrain from carrying out the bandh on Saturday.
Instead of the bandh, the three parties are organizing peaceful, silent sit-in protests in every district of Maharashtra. During these protests, leaders and activists will wear black face bands and banners, symbolizing their commitment to peaceful expression of dissent.
“The torture meted to those two innocent girls was very disgusting. As a result, strong public sentiments emerged in this regard from all levels of society. This was an attempt to draw the government’s attention to this matter. This bandh was within the purview of the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution of India,” said Sharad Pawar.
However, though the Bombay HC has ruled that the bandh is unconstitutional, approaching the Supreme Court against it was not possible owing to time constraints; Pawar said that the MVA would withdraw the bandh respecting the court and the Constitution.
“Respecting the decision of the Bombay HC, tomorrow from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., all leaders and workers of the Congress party will protest against the anti-women grand alliance government by tying black bands on their faces and holding black flags in all the state districts. I myself will participate in this protest tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Thane,” said Patole.
“I shall be sitting near Shiv Sena Bhavan from 11 a.m. tomorrow along with others. The court has ordered no shutdown, we shall even shut our mouths with black masks,” said Thackeray.
Along with criticising the protestors who had opposed the MVA action, Thackeray also said “that the cause has been overlooked… and who will bear accountability for the horrors inflicted against our sisters, mothers, and daughters.”
The leader of SS-UBT questioned “whether the people of India have lost the right to carry out protests” in light of the fact that such widespread demonstrations helped win independence for the country.
The MVA had earlier on Friday morning announced preparations for an 8-hour log shutdown at the state level, except all essential services, in protest of the recent wave of attacks that have targeted women, girls, and even small children.
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–IANS
