A journalist and three others were detained by the Mumbai Police on Saturday after they were involved into a scuffle with filmmaker Ashok Pandit while staging a protest at Azad Maidan in the city, the Indian Express has reported.
Dilnaz Boga, who is working with a city newspaper, has done extensive research on Kashmir and made a documentary on the plight of children in Kashmir. She had also called for a silent and peaceful protest through e-mails and SMSes. “I have been closely tracking the incidents in Kashmir. If Kashmir is a part of India, under the Indian constitution everyone has a right to protest. By imposing a curfew in the region, they (the government) are taking away the very basic right (of people) which is only increasing intensity of despair,†said Boga.
The silent protest was planned to stage on the pavement outside the Wilson College. “We initially got permission in writing from the D B Marg police. They had told us to inform the Girgaum police as well and we did the same. We also got CID verification done. Only after this, we were allowed to stage the demonstration. For a week, there was no hindrance, but today at 11 am when we assembled, the Girgaum police told us that we would not be allowed to stage protest,†said Boga.
When Boga and her friends finally started the protest at Azad Maidan, it was allegedly disturbed by Pandit and his friends who felt that it was anti-national. “We were detained and taken to the Azad Maidan police station after the police feared that the situation was getting worse,†said Boga. She was later released after an hour. When contacted, Pandit didn’t comment on the issue.
