Mumbai: Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad on Monday questioned the Maharashtra government's handling of a protest by tribal students, alleging that students who had come to Mumbai to raise concerns over facilities in tribal residential schools were picked up from the Congress office.
Addressing a press conference, Gaikwad questioned the circumstances under which police entered the Congress office and detained the protesting students.
“Whose rule is going on in Maharashtra? Is it a jungle rule? Students have come to ask the government. Did the police come with a warrant? Do people come to the party offices in the morning?” Gaikwad said.
She alleged that several students were picked up from the Mumbai Congress office, where they had been staying after travelling from Nashik to Mumbai to raise their demands.
“They picked up students from the Mumbai Congress office. These are students from Maharashtra. Why are they not giving permission? These are our students,” she said.
Gaikwad said the students were seeking basic facilities and improvements in tribal ashram schools and questioned the government's response to their demands.
“These students are demanding that facilities be provided in the ashram school,” she said, while also questioning the absence of senior leaders and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) leadership from Mumbai.
The tribal students have been protesting over issues including basic amenities in ashram schools and hostels, scholarship-related concerns and other grievances concerning the Tribal Development Department. A section of the students had earlier marched from Nashik towards Mumbai after holding a prolonged agitation there.
According to reports, the protesting students had sought permission to hold their demonstration at Azad Maidan. The Maharashtra Congress alleged that some students were detained by police in the early hours of Monday after they were allowed to stay at the party's Tilak Bhavan office in Dadar due to a lack of accommodation in Mumbai.
Gaikwad also referred to the ongoing concerns of students preparing for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations and said the government should engage with protesting students rather than suppress their voices.
“MPSC students are sitting in Pune. You are harassing these children. It is not right, Chief Minister,” she said.
The Congress leader said there were designated spaces for protests in Mumbai but questioned the practical difficulties faced by students if they were expected to remain at Azad Maidan for prolonged periods.
“Keep Azad Maidan open day and night, where will they sleep, where will they go to the toilet? You will catch the girls. Whose state is it?” she said.
Gaikwad said the students were raising basic demands related to food and education and recalled her tenure as a minister, saying she had previously sought departments including the MPSC to address such concerns.
“When I was a minister, I used to ask for two departments, MPSC and now another one. MPSC's credibility is gone,” she said.
She extended support to both the tribal students' agitation and the MPSC students' protest, saying the Congress stood with students raising concerns over education and recruitment.
“As students, we support both the protests. Police are standing by to suppress their voices. A message should be sent from Maharashtra that students in Maharashtra will not stop, will not be afraid,” Gaikwad said.
The Congress has also alleged that police forcibly entered its Mumbai office and detained tribal students who were staying there. The party said the students had travelled from Nashik to Mumbai after protesting for better facilities in tribal residential schools and hostels.
Harshwardhan Sapkal the state Congress President said, "Tribal students who arrived in Mumbai after leading a foot march from Nashik, while staying at Tilak Bhavan, are being forcibly entered into the office by police using force since midnight. They are engaging in rough behavior with the students, intimidating them, and attempting to take them into custody. The police must immediately stop their illegal entry into our office, intimidating the tribal students, and attempts to forcibly take them into custody."
The latest confrontation comes amid continuing student protests in Maharashtra over education, recruitment and conditions in government-run institutions, with the tribal students' agitation adding to the political pressure on the state government. Earlier, a section of the tribal protesters had accepted assurances following a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while another group continued its march towards Mumbai, saying the assurances were insufficient.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
