Mumbai civic polls: Candidate gets legal notice over Palestine bag
text_fields
Mumbai: Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWI) candidate Pradnya Prabhulkar has been served a legal notice by the Maharashtra Police after one of her supporters was seen carrying a bag featuring artwork of the Palestinian flag during campaigning for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
Prabhulkar, who is contesting from Ward No. 140, received the notice on January 3 at Bhujpalwadi in Govandi. The notice described the display of the Palestinian flag as “illegal” and stated that it could disturb public peace. Prabhulkar said the supporter regularly uses the bag.
Speaking to Maktoob Media, the RWI candidate said the Mumbai Police had taken photographs during the campaign, which she was told were for routine records. She said the images were later used to issue the legal notice.
“After the rally ended, Senior Police Inspector Ramesh Yadav of the Deonar Police Station called us to the station, saying he needed to discuss an important matter,” Prabhulkar told Maktoob Media.
Inspector Yadav later handed her the notice under Section 168 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which empowers police officers to intervene to prevent cognisable offences.
According to Prabhulkar, she was informed that carrying a Palestinian flag was being viewed as an “illegal activity” and could “potentially cause unrest in the area.”
“Palestine is not a religious matter. Police cannot object to political issues raised during an election campaign. They had no legal authority to object. This kind of oppressive action is not new. It is very shameful,” she said.
The action was condemned by several pro-Palestinian activists, who alleged that the Deonar Police were acting under government pressure.
“This exposes the government’s double standards and highlights the weakness of our foreign policy,” said Feroze Mithiborwala of the India Palestine Solidarity Forum.
Another activist, Dr Kashif of Friends of Palestine, Mumbai, described the incident as a “blatant violation of freedom of expression.”