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Mangaluru: Without notices, warrants, or revealing the grounds for detention, Mumbai police knocked on the doors of rights activists, children, local political leaders, and comedians, and took them away to police stations on Wednesday, July 22. Even hours after being detained, many of them were not informed of the reason for their detention.

Sandhya Phanaskar, a rights activist from Mumbai’s western suburbs, was taken to Vakola police station around noon. “A bunch of them [police] came over to my residence. I was home with my 11-year-old son and asked the police to wait at least until my husband returned from work. I also asked the police to show me a legal paper. They plainly refused,” Phanaskar told The Wire from Vakola police station.

Phanaskar, who had tried to attend the July 20 protest organised at Chaityabhoomi, Mumbai, was detained along with her son at Worli police station the same evening. “For just attempting to protest, they have already registered a case and detained us, and today they have again held me at the police station,” Phanaskar said.

Despite crackdowns and mass detentions, protesters gathered in different parts of the city and continued to demonstrate, reiterating their demand for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The protest, initially organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), has since grown far beyond its original scope, taking on an organic shape of its own. Its the demands are no longer restricted to Pradhan’s resignation alone. At the protests, young people have also been raising other pressing questions, including unemployment and communalism, among others.

मुंबईतील विद्यार्थी आंदोलनादरम्यान ताब्यात घेतलेल्या आंदोलकांना घेऊन जाणाऱ्या पोलिस व्हॅनसमोर एक निर्भय महिला ठामपणे उभी राहिली. तिने माघार घेण्यास स्पष्ट नकार दिला. क्षणातच आणखी लोक तिच्या समर्थनासाठी जमा झाले आणि अखेर पोलिसांना आंदोलकांना सोडावे........

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