Around a hundred people gathered at Dadar station, Mumbai on December 29, 2021 to condemn the hate-filled speeches made by various Hindutva leaders during the Dharma Sansad in Uttarakhand.

“We will protect the nation envisioned by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. We will voice ourselves against such hateful statements,” said one of the organising members during the protest on Wednesday afternoon.

Protesters came with various messages such as “Together Against Hate” glued to their backs and carrying placards with similar messages. People voiced dissent against the statements made by the extremist leaders during the Haridwar event.

Organisers pointed out that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was a part of such pro-Hindutva and anti-Islamic groups before he came to office. Further, this same person will now participate in the state election of one of India’s most populous states.

During the three-day Dharma Sansad, Hindu Mahasabha leader Annapurna from Mahamandleshwar said that in order to “end” Muslims, they must be killed. Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar declared that he would have shot former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh six times (just like Godse shot Gandhi) if he had attended the Parliament session where he said minorities have the first right to India’s resources.

Anand Swaroop Maharaj threatened a war worse than the 1857 revolt if the government did not accept their demands for a Hindutva nation. He also said he would not allow Hindus and Muslims to celebrate their festivals in Uttarakhand. Infamous hate-speech spewer Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati also encouraged Hindus to carry modernised weapons, not just swords – a sentiment endorsed by another Swami Premanand Maharaj.

During the so-called “Parliament” BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay handed over a ‘Saffron Constitution’ to Narsinghnand. In response, the latter said Hindus want people like Prabhakaran and Bhindrawale in the community. Many more such disconcerting statements were made on those days. Dadar’s protesters pointed out that UP’s Chief Minister is acting along these sentiments by encouraging extremist groups

“He was also arrested in 2007 for spreading religious hatred. This memory is enough to make us realize the seriousness of Yati Narasimhanand and his Dharma Parliament,” said organiser Makrand Desai.

He warned that the Sansad is only a glimpse of what the future holds. To address this, he and other leaders called for the Dadar protests. Instances of the demonstration can be seen below.

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The hearing was presided over by the Tree officer of the Tree Authority who started the meeting by acknowledging the receipt of 82,000 email objections by citizens, a number activists say is a record high for the Tree Authority.
 
The key demand of attendees was that the BMC deny permission for cutting of any more trees at Aarey and protect its fragile ecosystem. Adivasi residents pointed out that the forest was both their heritage and their way of life stating they would not accept being pushed into SRA schemes.

“We have taken care of our trees as if they were our children,” stated Asha Bhoye. “Have you ever planted a tree in your life?”
 

Another refrain was that Aarey is a forest that deserves protection, a statement that gains importance in the face of AshwiniBhide, MD, MMRCL’s tweets claiming the green zone was not a forest.

The post Breathing Fire, Mumbaikars urge a callous Tree Authority to save its Forest: Aarey appeared first on SabrangIndia.