Mumbai: The spontaneous midnight meet at the Gateway of India on that kicked off hours after a mob attack at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) continued across various parts of the city on Monday.
Students, teachers, researchers, celebrities and citizens poured out onto the streets of Mumbai condemning the attack and people continued to protest at the Gateway of India throughout the day . About 600 people joined a rally from nearby Hutatma Chowk to Gateway later in the day.
Condemning the incident, Aisha Kadar, general secretary, Tata Institute of Social Sciences Students’ Union said, “It has been more than 70 days that students have been protesting against fee hike. They were planning a march against the HRD ministry on Monday. After what the JNU students have faced, we fear for our lives and those of others who raise their voice. It is nice to see students fight for each other now and voicing their dissent. What happened on Sunday night was a one-sided state-sponsored violence.”
Echoing Kadar’s concern,Uzair Ahmed Rangrez, president of the south Maharashtra wing of Student Islamic Organisation said, “It feels like a personal attack to us. The police, security forces and the institute administration seem complicit in the attack. The attack also reveals the hypocrisy of the Delhi police. The home minister and the VC of JNU must take responsibility and resign. They can try to silence students, but we will not be mute spectators.”
“We need to stand by the students at this moment. As teachers it is our duty to stand by them,” Joseph Lobo, a retired teacher from Fergusson College, Pune, who had joined the protest at Hutatma Chowk.
Anil Karnik, a University of Mumbai teacher also said, “I am shocked to see that the police allowed a free hand to the goons in JNU. I cannot imagine what is happening at Jammu and Kashmir.”
A group of doctors were also present at the protest site. Samir Dalwai, a developmental paediatrician, said, “Protests and allegations are a part of society. What happened on Sunday was a planned attack on students. This cannot be accepted or it will set an example for the future.”
NCP MLA Rohit Pawar was also spotted at the protest at Gateway. “Students at JNU were protesting in a Gandhian way and the manner in which they were attacked by masked goons is unacceptable. The JNU Vice Chancellor has been avoiding [meeting] students for the last one month but now he is answerable. We demand an urgent inquiry in this matter. It can’t be a coincidence that such an instance happened so close to the elections,” the NCP legislator said.
