Today, On 25th July, Bombay High Court rejected CPI(M)’s request to hold a rally against the Gaza genocide, urging focus on national issues. “Look at your own country, be patriots… This is not patriotism,” the Court remarked sharply.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that challenged the Mumbai Police’s refusal to allow a protest at Azad Maidan against the alleged genocide in Gaza.
A Bench consisting of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad stated that instead of focusing on distant issues, the party should address problems within India.
The Court remarked,
“Our country has enough issues. We don’t want anything like this. I am sorry to say, you are all short-sighted. You are looking at issues in Gaza and Palestine. Look at your own country. Be patriots. This is not patriotism. People say they are patriots,”
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The judges urged the party to engage with local civic matters, such as garbage disposal, pollution, drainage, and flooding.
The Bench added,
“You are an organisation registered in India. If you could take up issues like garbage dumping, pollution, sewerage, flooding. We are just giving examples. You are not protesting on those but on something happening thousands of miles outside the country,”
The Court also pointed out that the nation’s foreign policy differs from the party’s stance and warned about the possible diplomatic repercussions of such protests.
The Bench cautioned,
“You don’t know the dust it could kick up… getting on to the Palestine side or the Israel side. Why do you want to do this? It’s obvious, going by the party you represent that you don’t understand what this could do to the foreign affairs of the country,”
The Mumbai Police, On June 17, had denied a request from the All India Solidarity Organisation to hold a protest at Azad Maidan, citing concerns regarding India’s foreign policy.
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The CPI(M) challenged this decision in the High Court.
Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, representing the CPI(M), argued that the police had rejected the application based on two main reasons: the protest contradicted India’s foreign policy and posed a potential law and order issue.
He maintained that citizens have the right to protest in designated areas, and concerns about public order should not impede this right, as supported by several Supreme Court rulings.
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In response, the Additional Public Prosecutor for the State indicated that the police had received objections to the planned protest and anticipated possible law and order problems if permission were granted.
Ultimately, the Court ruled that the party lacked standing to contest the police’s order since it was not the applicant in the original request, leading to the dismissal of the petition.
The bench found the current petition to be unsustainable and dismissed it accordingly.