Mumbai: Tribal students staged a protest march at Shivaji Park on Sunday, demanding the resignations of the Tribal Development Minister, the Commissioner and the Secretary of the Tribal Development Department. They also called for an inquiry into deaths in ashram schools and better hostel facilities for tribal students.
Despite being denied permission to hold the protest at Azad Maidan or Shivaji Park, the students warned that the government and police could not silence their voices by refusing permission for demonstrations.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahendra Pandit, around 120 people who gathered at Shivaji Park for the unauthorised Tribal Generation Z protest were taken to a police station. The process of their release was underway. Similarly, around 20–25 protesters who assembled at Chaityabhoomi for an unauthorised candle march were also taken to a police station, with their release process in progress.
In anticipation of the protest, the police had deployed heavy security at Shivaji Park and surrounding areas. The protesters were taken into custody and moved to police stations for further action.
Meanwhile, stand-up comedian Masoom Rajwani was also detained by Mumbai police for participating in a protest organised in support of Sahil Wakode, a 20-year-old second-year BTech student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Powai, who died by suicide. A video of the comedian's detention has gone viral on social media.
Tribal students have been protesting for the past two months over their demands. They staged a 42-day sit-in protest in Nashik and undertook a 13-day hunger strike, but their demands remained unmet.
Consequently, the students launched a long march from Nashik to Mumbai on September 28, reaching the city on October 4. However, the police detained them, allegedly forced them into vehicles and sent them back to Nashik.
The latest protest reflects the students' continuing anger over the alleged neglect of their demands, inadequate hostel facilities and deaths in ashram schools. They have reiterated their demand for accountability from the state’s Tribal Development Department and a thorough investigation into the deaths.
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