New Delhi: Samya Korde is reasonably familiar with protests and the Mumbai police, and is usually unsurprised when she is detained from protest sites. But the 26-year-old president of the Maharashtra Progressive Students’ Union is still reeling from the swarm of police personnel who are now routinely found outside her home, prohibiting her from leaving – be it for a protest or anywhere else. 

“We know that police machinery works to oppress our voices. But house arrest is new. They sit without uniforms outside my house for 8-9 hours. They want to create a narrative: Samya is doing something wrong,” she said. “The children in my society are going to think either I’m doing something good, or that I’m an anti-national or an urban Naxal.” 

On Sunday, Korde shared two posts on Instagram, urging people participate in a candlelight vigil at Chaityabhoomi – a memorial in Dadar-Chowpatty that belongs to BR Ambedkar and the Dalit community – to honour Sahil Wakode, the IIT Bombay student who died by suicide. That afternoon, she says, police descended on her housing society. 

At Deepali Salve’s house – Salve is the general secretary of All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association, the organisation which had called for this silent protest – the same template was playing out. 

“I was put on house arrest and told ‘upar se order aaya hai [the order has come from our superiors]. There were three policemen who came to my house in civil clothing – not one of them was female,” said Salve. “What is going on? I do not need permission to go to Chaityabhoomi. I will not ask and nor do I expect it to be given.” She also added that police are trying to tire them out. 

From her house, she was transported in a police vehicle to RCF Police Station in East Chembur station, and was held there till 6:30 PM, after which she went to Chaityabhoomi to pay homage. AIISCA had taken permission 

An FIR for unlawful assembly, a copy of which has been accessed by The Wire, was registered against Salve and 12 others, including comedian Masoom Rajwani and AIISCA’s Maharashtra state president Prashant Randive.

The campaign to seek justice and accountability for Sahil Wakode continues to make news. Azad Maidan, where his parents, who have also been detained repeatedly, are on a sit-in, comes with a slew of restrictions. Permission is not granted either for protests or sit-ins on weekends, and on weekdays, protesters must depart after 6 pm. Protests cannot take place outside the IIT Bombay campus. The spectre of police violence and detention looms large. There are crackdowns at every corner. The IIT administration speaks up only to defend what IIT Bombay students and other protesters see as indefensible or whitewash what is glaring. After his death, they........

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