Drama at march by MNS, UBT on Marathi, Sena min heckled | Mumbai News

Mira Bhayandar: Amid drama over police’s initial denial of permission and detention of MNS functionaries, hundreds of party workers and locals took part in a march taken out at Mira Road Tuesday to counter a protest by traders last week against the assault by MNS activists on a shop-owner for not speaking Marathi, reports Vishal Rajemahadik.Workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and UBT Sena MP Rajan Vichare also joined the MNS activists halfway through the morcha, increasing the numbers. Shiv Sena minister Pratap Sarnaik also visited the protest site in the afternoon, but he was heckled and forced to leave. Police had not given its nod to the MNS morcha at Mira Road, but as the crowd grew at 10am and protests were raised against the denial, cops allowed the morcha to proceed. CM Fadnavis said there was no bar to the march and the police had suggested the normal sanctioned route, but MNS insisted on a particular route and hence nod was denied. He said, “The police chief informed me police had inputs some of them were likely to do something”. Later, workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and UBT Sena MP Rajan Vichare also joined the MNS activists half-way through the morcha.Earlier in the day, many MNS functionaries including Avinash Jadhav, MNS Thane and Palghar district chief, were detained. Jadhav was taken into preventive custody by Kashimira police. Around 10am, people started gathering for the morcha, and as the numbers increased, cops started detaining people there as well. Jadhav was released by noon and it was in the afternoon, after protests against the denied permission, that the morcha was allowed. Two MNS functionaries from Mumbai, Nitin Sardesai and Sandeep Deshpande, also joined the march. The Marathi Ekikaran Samiti was part of the morcha. When Sarnaik arrived for the morcha, he was heckled by UBT activists. MNS’ Avinash Jadhav said Sarnaik had come for the morcha as a Marathi manoos and he should not have been heckled. As Sarnaik and those in the morcha asked how the traders were allowed to hold their march, minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam (Shiv Sena) said there is no difference in treatment of non-Marathi and Marathi people when it comes to holding rallies, but there are court guidelines and govt needs to ensure no law and order situation is created. As MNS said the traders’ march had no police approval, Kadam said cases have been filed against them as well.Narendra Mehta, BJP MLA from Mira Bhayandar, said traders were not given permission for their rally, and their rally was to protest against the assault on the shop-owner. Also, he said, the rally was organised in a hall and very few people were on the streets. The traders’ agenda was clear that there should be no atmosphere of fear and action should be taken against the seven accused who had assaulted the shop-keeper, he said.The agenda behind the MNS rally, he said, is not clear, . He said police may have felt a law and order issue may arise and hence permission would have been denied, but MNS has conducted rallies in the past as well and permissions have been issued.Raj issues gag order to party membersRaj Thackeray has imposed a gag order on MNS workers and leaders, directing them not to speak to media without his nod. They cannot express their opinion on social media too, Raj said. “No one from the party must interact with newspapers, news channels, or any digital media. Likewise, absolutely do not post videos of your reactions on social media,” he said in a post on X. He also said no one in MNS should post videos or reactions on social media. He also told the MNS leaders and members who are tasked with speaking to the media to take his permission before going ahead with any communication.Imtiyaz Shaikh