'They said that my leaving for the Quit India Movement event would be a threat to law and order so I should not leave the police station.'
Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson, was detained by the Mumbai police on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, morning as he was leaving to participate in the Quit India Movement rally.
This was the first time in his life Gandhi could not attend the rally on time as the Mumbai police told him that they had orders to detain him and ensure he did not reach the venue at the appointed time.
Apparently, Gandhi would be at the August Kranti Maidan -- the place from where Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call for the British to Quit India on August 9, 1942 -- at the same time when Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were attending an event at the hallowed maidan.
Gandhi was not alone as other activists like Teesta Setalvad too were detained by the Mumbai police and not allowed to reach the venue at the scheduled time.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Tushar Gandhi about his detention by the Mumbai police.
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Every year on August 9 we organise a peace march from Girgaum Chowpatty to August Kranti Maidan to commemorate the Quit India Movement. This year too we did the same.
The theme for this year was 'Nafroton Bharat Chhodo, Mohabbat Se Dilon ko Jodo'. We were going to march with this theme.
At 7 am, when I left my home to reach Girgaum Chowpatty for this march, I was surprised to see policemen at my doorstep as if they were waiting for me to get out of my house.
They told me that if I go to the event they will have to detain me.
I told them that I cannot not go for the event because it was a scheduled event and this ritual I do every year without fail whenever I am in Mumbai.
The police then took me to the Santacruz police station which is near my home.
They were good to me and told me to understand their predicament. They were only doing their duty and following the orders that were given to them (by the government).
They said that my leaving for the Quit India Movement event would be a threat to law and order so I should not leave the Santacruz police station and to be stationed there till the time they do not get permission.
I told the police that I want to pay my respect to the martyrs of the Quit India Movement who had laid down their lives on this day.
It was on this day that Mahatma Gandhi and the entire leadership of the Congress party were arrested by the British government. Later they arrested his wife Kastuba Gandhi too for defying prohibitory orders and reading Mahatma's message at a public rally in Bombay.
I am proud of the role that my great grandparents played in the freedom struggle on this day.
The order from the government was that I should not be allowed to reach the August Kranti Maidan till the official event does not get over.
There was no notice given to me that I should not leave my place at the designated time and still the police detained me.
G G Parekh, the noted Gandhian, has always been leading this march from the Lokmanya Tilak statue to August Kranti Maidan every year and till today we were never a threat to law and order.
Suddenly this morning, they felt that we were a band of terrorists from whom society has to be protected.
I feel the government is afraid that we will rekindle the spirit of the 1942 Quit India Movement and therefore they stopped us today.
When I asked the policemen who had given the orders to detain me, they simply said they got the orders from the office of the Mumbai police commissioner.
It was only after three hours, when all the government functions got over, that I was allowed to leave after which I reached the August Kranti Maidan.
