Civil society groups across Maha to protest PSA on Sept 10

Civil society groups in Maharashtra will protest the Special Public Security Bill on Wednesday at Shivaji Park, Mumbai, amid widespread criticism.

Mumbai: Civil society groups across the state will stage a protest against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024 on Wednesday. In Mumbai, the protest will be held at the Shivaji Park in Dadar at 4 pm.

Civil society groups across Maha to protest PSA on Sept 10

Social activist Ulka Mahajan said that the Jansuraksha Kayda Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, a common banner under which various groups have joined the protest, held a meeting on September 5. The meeting was led by Prakash Reddy, the Samiti’s head, and a member of the Communist Party of India. Mahajan said that among the participants were representatives of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) expressing their support.

Similar protests are scheduled to be held across 32 venues in various districts of the state including Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Pune and Nagpur. A protest march will also be held in Yavatmal from September 12 to September 17. “(Protests in) Many more locations are being planned,” Mahajan said.

The Bill, which was passed in both houses of the state legislature in July but awaits the governor’s nod, has been criticised by civil society groups as being “draconian” and an attempt to suppress dissent against the state.

A day after the bill was passed in the assembly, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said, “This (the bill) is not against any democratic processes. It will not take away anybody’s right to protest. It will only ban the frontal organisations associated with Naxalite and Maoist movements. Four other states have already accepted such a law.”

Last week, human rights activists and lawyers had met to discuss protests in the city and the rest of the state on September 10 and October 2.