Gaurav Sarkar gaurav. sarkar@ mid- day. com Days after a committee claiming to represent Mumbai Bagh met home minister Anil Deshmukh and held talks about withdrawing the protest, the women who have been protesting against CAA- NRC- NPR at Morland Road, Nagpada, since January 26, claimed that it was just a group of politicians trying to establish control over them. Addressing a press meet at the venue, the women said that they want to distance themselves from the delegation that had met Deshmukh and that they would continue the protest till demands were met.
They asked why we hadnu2019t contacted them before? But we knew that if we had contacted them, we would have never been able to claim the streets as a sign of protest.u201d u201c By 5 am on January 27, the police wanted us to move out but the politicians supported us. But what they ( politicians) didnu2019t do is let the activists become a part of the protest.
The politicians wanted to be the sole negotiators in the matter. There were barely any women in the delegation.
False claims have been made on their behalf. After the meeting, the politicians came here and tried to convince the women to call off the protest. They were confident that the women could be convinced. But the protesters refused to budge.u201d Mithiborwala further said that within the next 48 hours, a Mumbai Bagh Committee would be formed, comprising women who have been staging the protest since Day 1.
u201c It will not involve politicians but have only volunteers and coordinators.
Leaders will emerge as the movement goes on,u201d he added.
When asked what would be different about the protest hereon, he said, u201c The number of people taking part will increase. We are creating a committee to help stabilise and streamline the protest. There is a need for more structured decision making.u201d On being asked whether they had police permission, he said, u201c We are working towards it but permission or no permission, we will sit here until our demands are met. We also request Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to consider the demands of the people and bring in a resolution against the CAA, NRC and NPR.u201d u2018 Politicians let us downu2019 One of the women protesters said, u201c We are following the Shaheen Bagh model. If we move away from here, then the stance of the women protesting at Shaheen Bagh becomes weak. We cannot let that happen.u201d Another woman said, u201c The politicians have let us down. We have never accepted them as our representatives.
They ( politicians) left once they realised they could not control us. We donu2019t want anyone to vouch for us. We are here in our own individual capacity.u201d When asked if the politicians played the role of middlemen, she said, u201c Women who have been actively protesting here were not made a part of it. We still donu2019t know what the politicians wanted.u201d Replying to the query on whether it was the wrong delegation that went to meet Deshmukh, another woman said, u201c Yes. Core issues were not discussed by the delegation.u201d u201c We are people who come from normal backgrounds. We do not come out on the roads every day to protestu2026 so we are learning the ropes as we go along. They ( politicians) tried to sabotage the protest but it didnu2019t work.u201d Mithiborwala concluded, u201c People need to understand the importance of this protest. We have made mistakes and I apologise for that, but things will be clearer henceforth.u201d Mumbai Bagh women say u2018 wrong delegation met home ministeru2019 Activist Feroze Mithiborwala claims that the team comprised mostly politicians, who tried to establish control over them; says protest to continue till demands are met Women say that the Mumbai Bagh protest would continue till their demands were met. PIC/ BIPIN KOKATE u2018 Women were not taken into confidence and their opinions were not considered. The protesting women had never asked for protection from politicians. False claims have been made on their behalfu2019 Feroze Mithiborwala, activist
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