On August 20, 2025, nearly 250 citizens, including political leaders, activists, artists, journalists, and students. assembled at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, for a peaceful demonstration condemning Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. According to the report of The Hindu, the protest was led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and supported by CPI, CPI(ML), CPI(ML) Liberation, PWP, Samajwadi Party, NCP (SP), the Indian National Congress, and civil society platforms such as the All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO).
The meeting was permitted only after the Bombay High Court intervened for a second time this month. On August 12, the Mumbai Police informed the court that it would allow the gathering subject to strict conditions under the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, including prohibitions on provocative speech, as per Indian Express. Earlier, police had rejected requests citing “law and order concerns” over protests linked to international conflicts.
Calling the High Court order a “huge victory”, veteran journalist P. Sainath, founder-editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), reminded the audience that “Palestine is not just a global issue, it’s a super local issue.” According to the report of The Hindu, he also recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s 1938 article in Harijan, where Gandhi wrote: “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France belongs to the French.”
Speakers across parties denounced Israel’s actions as “genocide”, citing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity in Gaza. They also condemned the killings of journalists in Gaza, with references to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) documentation that dozens of Palestinian journalists have been targeted since October 2023.
Congress leader Hussain Dalwai, CPI(M) leaders Vivek Monteiro and Prakash Reddy, activist Feroze Mithiborwala, Samajwadi Party’s Shabana Khan, and cultural figures like actress Swara Bhaskar, theatre personality Dolly Thakore, and writer Beena Elias addressed the crowd. “What is happening in Gaza is not just a political conflict, it is a humanitarian crisis. No child should grow up under bombs, and no journalist should be silenced for telling the truth,” said Rashid Khan, a college professor from Kurla, echoing international human rights language, according to the IE report.
Placards at the protest read: Free Palestine, Stop the Genocide, Babies Are Not Collateral Damage, and India Stands for Peace. One participant carried an effigy of a baby wrapped in white cloth, smeared with red paint to symbolize blood, alongside a sign asking: “What if these children were yours?” Such imagery, participants said, was meant to highlight the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, where over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Although the Bombay High Court initially told the petitioners to “look at the challenges in their own country first”, it ultimately recognized the citizens’ constitutional right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b) of the Indian Constitution, directing police to ensure that the protest could proceed lawfully, according to the report of Bar and Bench.
The demonstration concluded peacefully, with organizers declaring it a united stand against war crimes, forced displacement, and starvation in Gaza, and a call for an immediate ceasefire, lifting of the blockade, and accountability for crimes against civilians and journalists.
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