Mumbai: Directions to share their live locations with police, 3am notices on messaging platforms to appear before them, hours-long detention at police stations, phones surrendered during detention returned with signs of surveillance, copies of ‘zero’ FIRs not being shared, and calls from different security agencies—many students who took part in protests in support of CJP in the city have alleged being subjected to harassment and illegal monitoring.Some protesters suggested that prolonged detentions were meant to wear them out and discourage them from participating in subsequent demonstrations. “Some of us had assembled in Dadar and were peacefully protesting on Tuesday when police personnel picked us up and took us to Worli police station. Under the pretext of recording our statements, they made us sit there for nearly seven hours. We were so exhausted that we decided not to join the next day’s protest,” said one of them.Samya Korde from Progressive Students’ Union raised concerns at a joint press conference by a few student organisations and some lawyers on Wednesday that students’ “careers are being ruined through FIRs for participating in peaceful protests”. Her father, who was one of the organisers of the protests in Mumbai on July 20, was detained twice.The lawyers said a few among them got 150-200 queries each from protesters facing legal action over the last two days.Aamir Kazi of All India Students’ Federation said he had switched off his phone before handing it over to police after being detained but when he got it back, not only was it turned on but he also received a notification later that the phone was connected to other devices, raising fears that he was being tracked.Vikrant Khare, one of the lawyers, said a student who reached out to him was told by a cop to send her live location. “This is restricting the right to freedom of movement. Another student was asked to unlock the phone and the cops checked their WhatsApp groups.”Kazi said there is a national call to designate spaces like ‘Cockroach Kranti Baghs’ across the country, including in Mumbai, for peaceful student protests and that they would press for this. Korde said demonstrations will continue in some form or the other in the coming days. “It is a students’ movement and we will extend our support wherever required.”Sandhya Panaskar, one of the demonstrators who was briefly detained by Worli police, alleged that the group she was with was picked up even before the protest could start. “Intially, we were not treated well, but women police officers later offered my 11-year-old son biscuits, water and tea.”Another protester who was detained over a demonstration outside Chaityabhoomi on Tuesday said repeated visits to the police station was mentally exhausting. “The officers were not abusive, but every time we receive a call from police, we have to take leave from work and spend several hours at the station. Even if they are following procedure, the process itself has become a punishment for ordinary protesters.”Kalyani Mangave, another lawyer, said students being detained are protected by the law. “There is no need to panic. They can shoot inside a police station as it is a public place. They have every right to call their lawyer. And police do not have any authority to check their phones,” she said, adding that students should read all documents before signing them.
