Voicing dissent with colours of Pride at Azad Maidan

Members of the city’s queer community gathered on Saturday at Azad Maidan, where they sang songs, read the Preamble and voiced their dissent against the amended

Members of the city’s queer community gathered on Saturday at Azad Maidan, where they sang songs, read the Preamble and voiced their dissent against the amended citizenship law and the police.

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Earlier this week, the Mumbai Police denied permission to the organisers to hold the Mumbai Pride March on their original August Kranti Maidan route — which they have been doing for the past 10 years — on the ground that participants could raise anti-government and anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) slogans.

While the event at Azad Maidan witnessed a lower turnout by corporates and allies this year, organisers said around 5,000 people gathered on Saturday.

Quite a lot of community members came for the gathering carrying posters that read “Bol ke lab azaad hain tere”, and placards criticising CAA and Mumbai Police’s decision to deny them permission.

“We are all fragmented here, and not really connected with what’s happening on the stage. Every time it’s more like all of us are marching together and there is a connect. This is like a community outing, and if that’s what the intention was, we all could have met anywhere else. The vibe here is different,” said a 19-year-old student.

The LGBTQ+ community felt that they had been “put into a corner”, wherein their voices were not being allowed to reach out to a wider audience, which is what the aim of a Pride March is.

“The difference between that pride and this is that, the march every year is more of a celebration, but today this is a protest. The community is voicing its opinion for all our rights, and that is irrespective of religion and gender,” said Shoaib Sheikh, graphic designer, who has been attending the march since its inception.

Organisers said that despite the last-minute change in venue and plan, they saw a good turn-out. “We thought people would be sad, but that’s not the case. Everyone is smiling and happy that the event took place. But yes, a lot of our allies didn’t turn up here because they feared that action would be taken against them,” said Tinesh Chopade, advocacy manager at Humsafar Trust, one of the organisers of the event.