Mainstream WeeklyPolice had to bow down before the firm and fearless stand of peace activists
7 October 2024, Indore.
In Palestine, torture, raids, killings of innocents and even bombings are not a new thing. Israel unleashes such deadly attacks now and then on Palestinian people. Children, young women and men, old age people, cattle, tamed animals, olive trees, nothing remains alive with a feeling of certainty. The uncertainty of life is so gruesomely evident in Palestine. But in this new phase of attacks from Israel, it has taken a shape of the genocide. Unarmed common citizens are being killed every day for more than a year. According to some reports, almost one lakh people have died and the same number is estimated of the people buried under the rubbles. More than 90 per cent residential buildings are now in the form of debris in Gaza. Schools, hospitals, nothing is spared. This is genocide and it is not Palestinian people alone, who are on the brink of extinction, it is entire humanity at stake. If the world turns its back to the Palestinians, it will be the defeat of humanity and justice.
To remain human and honest, it is mandatory to stand with Palestine and condemn Israel. This 7th October marked the one year of this ongoing genocide. Demonstrations were held all over the world for unity and solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine. In Indore too, many progressive and democratic organizations gave a call to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine in open public space. They called for immediate ceasefire, stop genocide, and end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. For this, a human chain was to be formed at the Regal Square, the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. But BJP has given a new dimension to this Palestine issue. They have propagated the propaganda that Israel is correct in its stand and Palestinians are Muslims, so they are the troublemakers. Of course, the majority of the people living in Palestine and in the Arab world are Muslims but not only Muslims live there. There are Christians also. Moreover, the problem is the colonial occupation of Palestine, and the apartheid Israel exercises with Palestinian, not the communal one.
Therefore, the Police were instructed by their political bosses that there should be no demonstration in favour of Palestine. In the morning of 7th October, some of the organisers got phone calls from the office of the Asst. Commissioner of the Police (ACP) that you cancel this programme and we are not giving permission to you. A delegation of the organisers went to meet the ACP. The delegation included senior economist and activist Dr. Jaya Mehta, state level and district level leaders of trade union movement AITUC, CITU, INTUC and AIUTUC Rudrapal Yadav, Kailash Limbodiya, C. L. Sarrawat, Rahul Nihore, Pramod Namdev, national secretary of Progressive Writers