Withdraw FIRs against us: Protesters urge govt

While protests against the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were held at different locations in the

While protests against the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were held at different locations in the city, a delegation of students met state home minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday to request the criminal cases lodged against student protesters be withdrawn. On Tuesday, Mumbai Police had registered four first information reports (FIRs) against various protesters, including those who had participated in the #Occupy Gateway protest. One of the FIRs booked 350 unnamed protesters.

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“We conveyed to the home minister that students feel wronged by the FIRs filed against them for fighting for our fellow students. Despite passions running high, students were committed to peaceful, lawful and democratic protests and most helped the police control crowds and traffic,” said one of the students from the delegation. Deshmukh has assured students that the state government is committed to defending constitutional rights and the matter will be looked into. “We are very glad the home minister agreed to discuss our issue with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and revert soon,” said another student.

On Wednesday, a student group known as the Student Action Force (SAF) staged a sparsely-attended protest outside Kalina campus of University of Mumbai. “The protested was aimed at showing solidarity towards the trade unions as well as keep our fight for the rights of students and public in general alive,” said Siddharth Ingle, founder president of Maharashtra Students’ Union (MaSU). Other organisations who participated in the protest on Wednesday included Progressive Students Union (PSU), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) among others. A large crowd also gathered for a protest meeting at Carter Road bandstand, at around 8pm in Bandra, and was dispersed within 45 minutes by Mumbai Police.