Amidst rising concerns amongst the people for the plight of Palestinian civilians, Bengaluru Police has repeatedly denied activists the permission to hold protests expressing solidarity with Palestine. As many as three petitions have been denied by the Bengaluru Police stating different excuses for all three of them.
According to a High Court Judgement of 2022, protests can only be conducted on the premises of Freedom Park, a privilege that is being denied to pro-Palestinian protestors. Earlier this month, on October 16th, a large gathering of activists across all ethnicities and religions peacefully marched on Bengaluru’s busy MG Road to register their grievance against the government for not condemning the brutal events unfolding in Palestine. Bengaluru Police, despite their refusal of permission to hold protests in Freedom Park have however registered 2 FIRS and detained almost 30 of the protestors in Ashok Nagar and Cubbon Park police stations. A 58-year-old man in Mangaluru was arrested for a video in which he appealed for prayers for Hamas. In Hosapete, a 20-year-old youth was detained for sharing a pro-Palestine status on WhatsApp.
For at least three of the petitions, the police have cited ‘limited space’ as being the reason for refusing permission and ‘international issue’ for the others. The letter from DCP S Girish, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) said, “Since you have requested permission to hold a protest in relation to international issues in the petition letter, the permission has been denied for the protest on 28-10-2023 in the interest of maintaining law and order.”
As a response to the police restrictions, Bengaluru for Justice and Peace, an alliance of civil society groups has written a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, demanding the right to protest and assemble peacefully. The letter highlighted the paradox of police registering FIRs against peaceful protesters for holding protests outside Freedom Park, while simultaneously denying permissions to protest within the park itself. “Such actions of the Karnataka state government are not only an assault on the fundamental rights of citizens to protest, but also display a cruel indifference to the genocide being carried out by the Israeli government, and is an immoral abuse of power by these offices,” the letter said.
The letter further made references to other states that have allowed large gatherings in support of Palestine, stating that despite the official stand of the Congress party as being an ally of the Palestinian cause, the policies of the Congress government in Karnataka reflected glaring inconsistencies. The letter said, “We, members of Bengaluru for Justice and Peace, strongly believe that the reasons furnished by the police in their letter rejecting permission for our protest are insufficient and unsubstantiated, to say the least. We are shocked at the deliberate attempt to silence our voices in support of Palestine, when the Congress Party as well the Union government have issued statements in support of the Palestinian people.”
“Why is the Karnataka government deliberately silencing voices of solidarity with the Palestinian people? Why is the Karnataka police filing FIRs against those seeking an end to Israeli occupation?” the activists questioned.
India is one of the countries that has officially abstained from voting in a UN General Assembly resolution for a humanitarian truce that calls for an immediate ceasefire in the region. Close to 8,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli bombardments since October 7. Israel continues to deny the Palestinians all access to clean water, humanitarian aid, telephone services, internet connectivity, medical supplies and fuel even as it bombs indiscriminately hospitals, homes, public places and shelters declared safe across the cities of Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian hospitals are all at risk of collapse as fuel depletes and thousands of its patients rely on ventilators to survive.
