Pro-Palestine group in Pune attacked by Hindutva mob, booked for promoting religious enmity – Alt News

On May 10, people from a far-Right group disrupted a pro-Palestine demonstration in Maharashtra’s Pune. The demonstration was held by Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine (IPSP) in front of a Domino’s pizza outlet in Karve Nagar as part of the global campaign to Boycott, Divest and Sanction companies that directly or indirectly support Israel’s actions in Gaza. IPSP members alleged that the mob attacked and assaulted them while they were peacefully protesting

The BDS movement has a global list of companies to boycott. Those on the list include multinational corporations such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Dell, HP, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s, among others, that have been associated with or shown support for Israel. The logic being that a withdrawal of such monetary, cultural, military and other support would prohibit Israel from carrying out its offensive in Palestine. It is estimated that about 53,000 Palestinians have been killed in this since October 2023, with the actual toll likely to be far higher.

The demonstration by 10-12 IPSP members on May 10 was along similar lines. They were distributing pamphlets on what was happening in Palestine outside a Domino’s outlet. Just when they were about to wrap up, things suddenly escalated.

What Happened on May 10?

One of the IPSP members, Swapnaja Manoj Limkar, told Alt News that the pro-Palestine group was questioned by 10-15 people as they were carrying out their campaign. “They asked us, ‘What are you doing?’, ‘What about Pahalgam?’, pointed at the Palestine flag and called us ‘deshdrohi‘ (traitor)… We were, anyway, wrapping up at that point and leaving, but within a few minutes, these people called some 50-60 others over there. They mentioned they were from the Bajrang Dal. One of those who led the mob was a BJP leader from Pune,” she said.

“At this point, there were only four of us—two females and two males—remaining there because I asked everybody else to leave when I sensed this might be escalating,” she said, adding, “One person from the mob started hitting the two men with a cricket bat. Lalita (another IPSP member present there) and I were trying to shield them as the mob was not attacking the women. If we hadn’t been there, it could have turned into a lynching situation… I was given rape and death threats, my saree was torn”.

Swapnaja’s account of the thrashing was corroborated by a video shared by the Instagram account @hindutvawatchin on May 12. The caption reads: “Hindu nationalists assaulted activists who were distributing pamphlets against the genocide in Gaza as part of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, in front of a Domino’s outlet.” It also mentioned that the mob was led by BJP leaders Mahesh Pavale and Sagar Dhame.

The video showed two men holding an individual by their collar as others joined in to hit him. While this was happening, a woman in a green saree could be seen trying to shield the individual. In the same video, some men were treating another individual in a similar way when a woman in a black and white saree tried to protect him from the violence. The video also shows the mob hurling abuses at them. At some point, someone from the enraged mob could also be heard shouting “Pakistan Zindabad”. But the audio was not clear, so we could not decipher whether it was said in a particular context or as part of sloganeering.

A May 11 post on the official Instagram page of BDS India on May 11 detailed the incident with Swapnaja’s statement. The caption said that the police allegedly detained IPSP members while the assailants were let go.

Swapnaja also told Alt News that BJP leader Mahesh Pavale, who allegedly led the mob, told the police that IPSP members raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. “It was spread in the news that in our protest, we raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans, it was also claimed that we were promoting pro-Hamas policies when we have clearly mentioned in our pamphlet that we do not support the ideology of Hamas, we only support the Palestinian liberation movement, the freedom struggle of Palestine”.

Hamas is a political and militant organisation that controls the Gaza Strip. It had launched an attack against Israel in October 2023, which triggered the war in which thousands of civilians have now been killed.

Swapnaja also showed us pictures of several other similar campaigns they organised. “We never faced backlash like this,” she said.

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Police Complaints

Both parties filed complaints against each other at the Warje-Malwadi police station in Pune on May 12. Alt News has reviewed a copy of these.

A first information report (FIR) filed by the IPSP names three individuals—Mahesh Pavale, Sagar Dhame and Amit Jadhav. All three are affiliated with the BJP. Thy have been charged under sections 79, 189(2), 190, 191(2), 115(2), 351(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Section 79 deals with words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman, while 189(2) deals with knowingly joining or remaining in an unlawful assembly despite being aware that it is unlawful. Section 190 punishes every member of unlawful assembly as guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object, 191(2) looks at punishment for provoking riots, 115(2) deals with voluntarily causing hurt, 351(2) with criminal intimidation and 352 with intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

Meanwhile, the FIR filed by the Hindutva group is against 11 individuals of the IPSP, of which only four were named in the FIR. However, the charges invoked by them were far more severe. The FIR charged them with sections 196, 299, 302, 189(2), 190, 126(2) and 135 of the BNS.

Section 196 deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, or any other ground, 299 punishes those indulging in deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, 302 penalises those who speak with with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of another person, 126(2) deals with wrongfully restraining a person and 135 punishes those who assault or use criminal force to confine a person wrongfully.

Note that the FIR against IPSP has no mention of the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. Alt News also reached out to the deputy commissioner of police (Zone 3) Sambhaji Kadam, who told us that the cases were under investigation, and presently, statements are being recorded. When asked about the severity of the sections in the FIRs, DCP Kadam said that all sections imposed were “proper and correct”. Regarding the claim of the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan being raised by the protestors, he said that the matter is being investigated, and the CCTV footage is being reviewed. He did not confirm or deny whether such slogans were raised nor told us by which group.

Note that the IPSP did not have police permissions for their demonstration.

Swapnaja called the charges against the IPSP by the Hindutva mob ‘baseless’. She told Alt News that IPSP was moving the High Court to quash the FIR. “All the charges mentioned in the FIR we filed against them are bailable, while the charges filed against us are non-bailable,” she said.

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