Thousands join Sena (UBT) protest in Mumbai over NEET paper leak

Thousands marched in Mumbai under Shiv Sena (UBT)'s banner demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the NEET paper leak. The protest also sparked controversy after a viral video allegedly showed a police official handling a woman protester inappropriately

Mumbai: Thousands of protesters converged in Dadar area here on Friday under the banner of Shiv Sena (UBT) to seek Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET paper leak, with party leader Aaditya Thackeray saying he has urged CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke not to return until the demand is met.

Mumbai Police faced a fresh onslaught of criticism after a video showing an official allegedly handling a woman activist inappropriately went viral. While police claimed that his action was being “misinterpreted”, the Opposition demanded his immediate suspension.

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Holding tricolours and placards in their hands, thousands of students and activists gathered at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Dadar area as part of a ‘Tiranga Morcha’ (procession) organised by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT). The protest culminated with the playing of the national anthem.

Even an hour after the march ended, the air reverberated with the sounds of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’. Speaking before the gathering, Uddhav Thackeray said while the government has the power of ‘lathis’ (batons), the protesters have ‘tirangas’ (tricolours) in their hands.

The participants raised slogans of “Azaadi (freedom) from dictatorship and paper leaks” with the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ being played in the background. Some of them carried the posters of Bhagat Singh and Dr B R Ambedkar. “This is ‘jan ki baat’ (voice of people) and Delhi has to listen to it. The way students were attacked, tear-gassed, I am warning the government — you can have lathis, but we have tirangas. Let’s see who wins,” said Uddhav Thackeray, a former Maharashtra chief minister.

Aaditya Thackeray said though activist Sonam Wangchuk had ended his indefinite hunger strike, the protest would continue. He called Dipke and asked him not to return home in Maharashtra until Education Minister Pradhan resigned, he said, while asking the youth to freely hold protests at Shivaji Park irrespective of the police’s action.

Echoing a slogan shouted by protesters, Aaditya said whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets scared, he talks about Hindu-Muslims and religion. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Amit Thackeray, son of party chief Raj Thackeray, said the government was on the backfoot due to the “GenZ” protests.

Meanwhile, police, who are already facing flak over a police driver threatening student agitators that they would be implicated in a false drug case if they continued to take part in the ongoing protests, landed in another controversy when a video showed a plainclothes officer allegedly handling a female protester inappropriately during a demonstration.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged that the “police raj” under the BJP-led Mahayuti government was a blot on the state’s reputation, and accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who heads the Home department, of acting like ‘Duryodhana’. The incident apparently occurred earlier this week during demonstrations at Shivaji Park.

Mumbai Police, however, denied that the official’s intentions were wrong. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Akbar Pathan said that senior officers minutely examined the footage.

“The official was trying to hold on to a male protester, and a lady stepped in while he was looking away. Senior officers have verified all the facts and minutely assessed the video to ascertain the facts,” Pathan said. No case has been registered so far.

The clarification came after Opposition leaders shared the video on social media. Congress leader Sapkal targeted Fadnavis, who is called ‘Devabhau’ by his supporters, over the incident.

“Devabhau is acting like Duryodhana (arch-villain of the Mahabharata). The police, after threatening students with false drug cases, have now gone to the extent of allegedly outraging the modesty of a woman in Dadar and lathi-charging young protesters. This ‘police raj’ is a blot on Maharashtra. Mere token action is not enough; the policeman who threatened students must be suspended,” Sapkal said.

In a post on X, Mumbai Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad questioned why male officers were dealing with women protesters.

“It is not right to speak of ‘Ladki Bahin’ and then treat young women in this manner. It is shameful that women are allegedly being mistreated in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. False cases are being filed against students, and they are being threatened,” Gaikwad wrote.

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar demanded the immediate suspension and arrest of the official seen in the clip. “Register a case of outraging the modesty of a woman against him and put him behind bars. He is a blot on the Maharashtra Police, a force with a distinguished reputation,” Pawar stated.

Many netizens also shared the video, slamming the police force and the BJP-led government. MNS chief Raj Thackeray, meanwhile, alleged that the Delhi police’s crackdown on the Cockroach Janta Party’s ‘Sansad Chalo’ march seemed like an act of “revenge” rather than crowd control.

In a post on X, he questioned the use of force against students protesting the NEET paper leak, and remarked that if teachers face action for meting out corporal punishments, the same should apply to the police who assaulted students and those who ordered them to do so. In Pune also, thousands of protesters, including students, took out a march amid rains over the issue.