For 10 days every year, as Mumbai celebrates its biggest festival, Ganesh Utsav, the only slogan that echoes across the streets of the city is “Ganpati Bappa Morya”. However, this year, the festive fervour is likely to be dampened by the cries of various groups who have given a “Chalo Mumbai” call and are heading towards the city.
As devotees from various parts of the country throng to different pandals in Mumbai to seek the blessings of Lord Ganesh, the agitators are likely to arrive in large numbers to pressurise the Devendra Fadnavis government to accede to their demands. The situation has become quite sensitive for the Mumbai Police, who must not only handle the festive crowd but also maintain law and order while the protesters are in the city. The biggest challenge for the police comes in the form of Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil, who is on a hunger strike in the Antarwali Sarati village of Jalna district. He has warned that if the government doesn’t accede to his demands, he will march towards Mumbai along with his supporters during Ganesh Utsav. Another major group that is likely to head towards Mumbai is led by the Sakal Adivasi Vidyarthi Andolan. It is a coalition of various tribal groups that is demanding the safety of residential ashrams, better hostel facilities, hygienic food and the resignation of some officials. Some groups from the Dhangar community have also planned protests in the city. The Dhangars (or shepherds) are demanding their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list instead of being classified as a Nomadic Tribe (NT). Some groups from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) had also planned a protest in Mumbai to counter Jarange Patil’s agitation, which they have postponed for now.
The group has announced that it will march towards Mumbai between September 15 and 20.
“Seeking to avoid a repeat, the government is making all efforts to placate Patil,” said an official.
The cops are taking this seriously as Patil had protested in the city last year and his supporters had blocked South Mumbai for almost three days.
