Opposition Leader, MVA Activists Detained After Protests Against PM’s Maharashtra Visit

 Mumbai: Leader of opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council and other leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders were detained on Sunday for protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s Maharashtra visit. The MVA leaders protested outside the airport in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where the PM was scheduled to arrive for attending a programme at Jalgaon.

Wearing black dresses, Danve and other protesters made a human chain with several of them holding placards protesting the Badlapur school sexual assault incident. They tried to enter the airport while raising slogans against Modi over alleged incidents of atrocities against women in the country.

The MVA leaders and workers also protested against the state government over an alleged insecure atmosphere for the safety of women in Maharashtra.

The main aim of the protests was to attract the PM’s attention towards the rising incidents of atrocities against women in Maharashtra and the country, Danve said. He accused the police of using force against the protestors. “Police are using force here. Are we terrorists that force is being used against us?” he asked.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader asked why the police did not use their authority in the Badlapur incident and took swift action. “In Badlapur, the offence was not registered even after 12 hours, but nothing was done,” he said.

When asked why he and his supporters were protesting amid an elaborate security arrangement at the airport ahead of the PM’s Jalgaon visit, Danve said, “We also care for his security. We respect him as he is the head of our nation. Let the police do their work, we will do ours.”

Police then detained Danve and other agitators and took them to the MIDC Cidco police station.

Massive protests had erupted in Badlapur in Thane district over the alleged sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls in Badlapur. The police have arrested an attendant at the school in this case. As per the complaint, he abused the girls in the toilet of the school. In the wake of the incident, the school management has suspended the principal, a class teacher and a female attendant. The state government has also ordered the suspension of three police officials, including a senior police inspector, for alleged dereliction of duty in probing the sexual abuse of the two girls.