In a shocking first, the Mumbai Police have denied permission for holding the Queer Azaadi March 2020. In a written letter they have claimed that permission is being denied because of apprehensions that people protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will join the pride march and raise slogans against the central government.
The Humsafar Trust, India’s oldest LGBTQ organization, that is also one of the organisers of the parade tweeted about the denial on Wednesday afternnon.
Update on Mumbai Pride 2020
– The Mumbai Police has denied us permission for Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride 2020 at August Kranti Maidan and issued letter in writing
We will keep sharing the updates till this gets resolved. Let’s hope for the best !
— Humsafar Trust (@HumsafarTrust) January 29, 2020
As did Queer Azaadi Mumbai, another group that is involved in organizing the pride.
The Mumbai Police has denied us permission for Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride 2020 at August Kranti Maidaan. pic.twitter.com/JLNYmyMxjQ
— Queer Azaadi Mumbai (Mumbai Pride) (@queer_azaadi) January 29, 2020
The letter from the Mumbai Police written in Marathi says, “We have learnt that slogans could be raised against the central government in relation to CAA and NRC at this rally. We therefore deny permission for the rally. If a rally is conducted despite this, we will be forced to file charges and take action.”
This is heartbreaking for India’s vibrant Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Plus community that has been organizing and enthusiastically participating in the march, a celebration of LGBT pride, for over a decade. Until this year, the police have always been supportive.
Equal Rights activist Harish Iyer, who is one of the many organisers of the march, had sought police permission and whose name appears on the denial letter says, “The pride is intersectional. The queer Muslim man who has no kaagaz to show, the transperson from Assam whose name is missing in NRC. The beef eater queer who gets lynched are all a part of the Queer community. When we walk the pride, we walk with all these identities in us.”
When Sabrang India contacted ACP Nagesh Jadhav, he advised us to speak with Senior police inspector Rajendra Mohite who had signed the letter, saying he had more information. But at the time of publishing this piece Sen PI Mohite remained unreachable. We will update the story with his quote when we have it.
However, an official from the Gamdevi Police Station told Mumbai Mirror, “We told them that the march could give a chance to others to infiltrate and mingle into the crowd and give it a political colour. That will ruin the very purpose of the march. Moreover, if at all the organisers were keen on taking out the march, they should ensure to keep outsiders at bay, which they failed to submit.”