Mumbai: Mumbai Police has denied permission for pro-Palestine rally at Azad Maidan after counter-protest threats by Hindu groups. The India-Palestine Solidarity Forum and a group of political parties had planned to hold ‘Gaza-Palestine Solidarity Rally’, to protest against Israel’s siege of Gaza, at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon. However, Hindu outfits objected to the protest and urged the Mumbai Police not to allow the rally.
The Hindu groups, including Hindu Rashtra Samnvay Samiti, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal,
threatened to hold counter rallies if the police did not stop people from gathering at Azad Maidan. The two sides spoke to the police on Tuesday, following which it was decided that no rally will be held at Azad Maidan.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Dr Praveen Munde, permission has not been given to the forum to hold the pro-Palestine protest.
Mumbai.. Show up for Palestine on 18 June! 🇵🇸❤️✨#stopthegenocideinpalestine pic.twitter.com/huG4zN5MDL
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) June 16, 2025
The founder and president of the India-Palestine Solidarity Forum, Feroze Mithiborewala, said that they have the right to criticise the government’s policy, adding that similar rallies were held in Delhi on Tuesday.
Demanding a ban on the rally, the Hindu Rashtra Samnvay Samiti, in a memorandum to the police, claimed that the event posed a law and order threat and would create unrest in the society. Sunil Ghanwat, national organiser of Hindu Rashtra Samnvay Samiti said that the organisers of the pro-Palestine rally never raised their voices on issues like the persecution of Hindus in Kashmir and Bangladesh or terrorist attacks on India.
VHP spokesperson Shriraj Nair also objected to the rally saying that the groups planning the protest did not bother to speak up against the last month’s Pahalgam terror attack that claimed lives of 26 terrorists. “This protest is not humanitarian but rather anti-India, anti-Hindu and indirectly supportive of terrorism,” he said.
Shriraj Nair, spokesperson, VHP, said that the groups planning the protest did not bother to speak out against the Pahalgam terror attack. “If the Mumbai police do not ensure this event does not happen, the Bajrang Dal will be forced to come out in solidarity with Israel who are victims of terrorism,” said Nair.
