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The national child rights body has asked Mumbai Police to file a first information report (FIR) against Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray for 'using' children during a 'Save Aarey' protest, an official said on Monday.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) registrar Anu Chaudhary has written to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar requesting the registration of an FIR.
In her letter, she mentioned that the NCPCR had received a complaint from Dhrutiman Joshi alleging that Aaditya Thackeray used minor children in the protest or political campaigns in so-called 'save Aarey' protest.
Joshi is the legal head of the Sahyadri Rights Forum, it said.
"Through the Twitter link, children are seen participating in the protest holding placards," Chaudhary stated.
She said the NCPCR has taken cognisance of the matter and is of the view that such an act is prima facie in contravention of section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act.
"In view of the above, the commission thereby requests you to investigate the matter urgently by lodging an FIR against the accused persons at once," she stated.
The commission also said that the children should be identified and produced before Child Welfare Committee as per Juvenile Justice Act for recording their statements.
An Action Taken Report along with the copy of FIR and the statement of children may be shared with the Commission within three days of receipt of this letter, it said.
When contacted, Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande asked how can this be proved that Aaditya Thackeray brought the children for protest.
”They must have accompanied their parents. When children are being taught in their schools the importance of trees, then what is wrong in them protesting,” Kayande asked.
Aaditya Thackeray, a former Maharashtra environment minister, had recently staged a protest with green activists at Aarey Colony, known as the 'green lung' of Mumbai, against the Eknath Shinde government's move to resume the construction of a metro carshed at the forested area.
The erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray government had shifted the metro car shed to Kanjurmarg in north-east Mumbai, but no work was done at the new site, to protect the biodiversity in the Aarey forest.