In what seems to be a first, the Mumbai Police has put up posters all over the Aarey forest intimidating people that it will use force in case they witness a gathering on people in the area.
A tweet put up by Aarey activist Zoru Bathena shows the poster put up by the police.
@MumbaiPolice
Is this the way to word posters?
How very Crude!p.s. You’ll should have asked your twitter PR team to word it
Do try next time ???#SaveAareySaveMumbai #SaveAareyForest pic.twitter.com/6sBcVmGA73
— Zoru Bhathena (@zoru75) November 9, 2019
#day865
A public notice put up in Aarey.We do respect law&order& abide by it as responsible citizen but this was not the way it should hv been put up.
A humble &honest appeal stating the need rather potraying the assembly&peaceful demonstrations as illegal #SaveAareyForest pic.twitter.com/oneodNpfJA— #SaveMumbaiforest (@SaveMumbaifore1) November 9, 2019
Speaking to Sabrang India he said, “I’ve heard that these posters have been put up at other venues as well. Aarey has always been a hub of protests. It also had a part to play during the 1992 Mumbai riots, and the posters could have been put up keeping in mind the Ayodhya verdict after Section 144 was imposed in Maharashtra. Having said that, the language used is very crass and crude and does not reflect the spirit of the Mumbai Police.”
We also spoke to Sahil Parsekar who has been a continuous fixture in the Aarey protests who said that, “Section 144 was imposed in Mumbai in light of the Ayodhya verdict, but it ended on November 2. The poster was still there on Sunday, November 3 and the police used it to intimidate us activists in the name of Section 144. The order that they showed us clearly stated that the imposition of Section 144 had ended on Saturday itself. Police in civilian clothes has always been intimidating us since the protests against the felling of trees for the Metro car shed began. People respect the Mumbai Police and it is very unbecoming of the department to use such language to threaten the people from protesting for the right cause.”
Activists Radhika Zhaveri and Asha Bhoye said that they didn’t have complete information in the matter yet.
The #SaveAareyForest protest intensified after the ruling BJP-led government gave the sly permission to fell more than 2,141 trees to make space for the Metro 3 car shed. The move saw ferocious, yet peaceful protests from the Adivasis living in Aarey and they gained massive support from the public against the government who destroyed the green lungs of Mumbai.
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