‘No Pakistan Zindabad Slogans Were Raised’: Pro-Palestine Group In Pune Refutes Allegations (VIDEO)
Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine, a pro-Palestine group, held a protest in Pune on Saturday. It was part of a larger movement "for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel as part of a global movement in solidarity with Palestine." However, the protest was marred by violence. The group claimed they were "attacked by a mob of Sanghis during a peaceful demonstration." They further alleged that the police refused to register their complaint.
Meanwhile, videos of the violence have gone viral on social media, with many claiming that "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans were raised during the protest. However, the group has released a statement refuting the allegations.
The statement read, "A series of videos are being released by BJP's propaganda machinery and IT cell to construct a false narrative about BDS Pune and BDS in general. We categorically deny all the baseless charges being levelled against us by the very goons who attacked our peaceful campaign, and we also condemn the efforts of Pune Police in protecting them and denying us our fundamental right of even registering an FIR!"
Explaining the sequence of events, the group stated, "On May 10, we participated in the ongoing worldwide call to boycott various companies funding Israeli genocide and gathered outside Domino’s in Karve Nagar. We were peacefully distributing our pamphlets, which are open for everyone to see. Our positions are fully consistent with the overwhelming opinion of the world democratic community and the historical stand of India in support of freedom for Palestine. India was one of the countries that even opposed the creation of Israel on the stolen land of Palestine in 1948."
"After our campaign started, a group of 10–15 people gathered and started debating with us, and we were patiently explaining the myths they harbour about Palestine. However, led by BJP leaders Mahesh Pavale and Sagar Dhame, a mob of 50–100 people gathered in no time and started assaulting the participants. The police who had arrived stood by for some time and only later took four of us away. Women participants were assaulted, threatened with rape and murder, and had their clothes torn. In the police station, they took our written complaint but refused to give us acknowledgement. However, in order to protect the BJP politicians, the police kept pressuring us to withdraw our complaint, which we refused. Finally, the police said that they were not registering any FIR and we could go, but we insisted on an MLC being done, and only on our insistence were we taken in a police van to Sassoon Hospital. However, as soon as we reached Sassoon, the police left us. We got our MLC done by ourselves and returned to the Karve Nagar Police Chowky, where a small group of the hooligans was still present with just one police person. Considering this a safety risk, we decided to return on the morning of May 11. On this day, we had to try for five hours to get the complaint filed, and after denying that we had filed any complaint on May 10, and later saying that it was lost, the police gave us acknowledgment only on the old complaint and again refused to accept our new complaint with names of the accused. No FIR has been registered against the violent attackers, and that shows the reality of Pune Police."
"Pune Police is clearly hand in glove with the BJP politicians and is protecting their hooliganism. Just on the basis of the videos being circulated, action should have been taken against the very known faces in these videos! We again categorically deny that we raised any 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans, for which there is no evidence. We do support the Palestinian national liberation, which all justice-loving people do, and that has nothing to do with the ideology of Hamas. Only a wave of false propaganda is being created by the BJP IT cell," the statement concluded.
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