Hyderabad police detain nearly a dozen students, activists expressing solidarity with Palestine

As per reports, around 2,700 people on both sides have lost their lives as the conflict entered its 7th day.

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‘Long live Palestine’, ‘Free Palestine’

The protest, which was scheduled at the Ambedkar Statue at Liberty Circle near Tank Bund Road, went on only for a few minutes before the police intervened.

One of the detainees, Sreeja D of Disha, told South First, “We organised the protest in support of Palestine against the occupation by Israel and we wanted to support the Palestinians fight for national liberation, which has been going on for many years. But two minutes into the protest, there were already policemen at the venue and they stopped us from using the speaker.”

In the videos shared with South First, the police can be seen carrying away the placards, some of which read “Long live Palestine”, “Free Palestine”, “Gaza will never die”.

Around a dozen students, activists were detained for expressing solidarity with Palestine in #Hyderabad. Placards – Long live #Palestine, #Gaza will never die" was displayed. Chants – Go down #Israel, Boycott Zionist Israel also raised. @TheSouthfirst #IsraelPalestineConflict pic.twitter.com/95kXbReB1k

— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) October 13, 2023

The protests chanted slogans against Israel, such as “Down, down Israel”, and exhibited placards of “Boycott Zionists Israel” before the police detained them.

Also read: Kerala watches Israel-Gaza conflict with trepidation as nurse injured

Around a dozen detained

“Around 10 of us have been detained at the Saifabad police station. It has been five hours now since we are here. It is not clear when will they let us go,” Sreeja said.

The cops reportedly stated that there was no permission for the protest amid the ongoing Model Code of Conduct ahead of the Telangana Assembly Elections on 30 November.

Condemning the police’s action, the NBS and Disha said, “This action of the Hyderabad police is in complete violation of the fundamental right of expression and protest. There are reports of activists supporting Palestine being detained from different parts of the country.”

They added, “All this shows that the ruling classes in India have completely betrayed the Palestinian people’s just struggle for their national liberation. It also shows how the ruling classes of India have fully embraced the colonial settler apartheid state of Israel, which has occupied Palestinian land for decades.”

“The shrinking spaces for protests in Telangana is an indication of police authoritarianism in Telangana,” independent researcher and activist Srinivas Kodali posted on X.

Can't protest about anything in Telangana. Hyderabad Police have detained people protesting against israel's war on gaza. The shrinking spaces for protests in Telangana is a indication of police authoritarianism in Telangana. pic.twitter.com/UIfCzRVbN5

— Srinivas Kodali (@digitaldutta) October 13, 2023

Meanwhile, this was the first protest in Hyderabad since the latest Israel-Palestine conflict began.

Also read: Keralite farmer who disappeared on official trip to Israel returns

Why was the protest called?

The protestors alleged that Palestine has been wrongfully occupied for years because of the “imperialist interests” of Israel.

“We oppose the ideology of Zionism as Israel has been continuously carrying out violence on Palestinians for so many years now. And we don’t believe in Hamas’s ideology. We support the people of Palestine and we believe that their fight for national liberation should be supported,” Sreeja stated.

She added that Indians “cannot sit and preach to the Palestinians who to choose as their leader (referring to Hamas). They will choose whoever has been standing and fighting with them.”

While denying Hamas’s action as an act of terrorism, Sreeja said, “It was an act of defence, an act of retaliation against years of colonial exploitation and plunder and violence of Israel.”

The detainees were still in the police station at the time this report was published. Following the protests, police have increased the number of personnel deployed near Charminar in Hyderabad.