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Mumbai police have denied permission to the India-Palestine Solidarity Forum and a group of political parties to hold a rally at Azad Maidan on Wednesday afternoon to protest against Israel's siege of Gaza. The organisers said that in the absence of a nod to gather at the ground, they will meet at a trade union office near Azad Maidan in smaller numbers.

The rally was opposed by Hindu groups who threatened to hold counter rallies if the police did not stop the gathering. Both groups spoke to the police on Tuesday, after which the police decided not to permit the rally. Dr Pravin Mundhe deputy commissioner of police, zone I, said that no permissions have been given for the gathering.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Republican Party of India, Samajwadi Party, were among the groups planning the rally in response to a call by leftist parties to observe June 17 as 'National Day of Solidarity with Palestine'. The groups condemned the war in Gaza and want the government to change its stand on the issue, which they said is a turnaround of the Indian state’s earlier solidarity with Palestinians.

Following the announcement of the rally, the Hindu Rashtra Samnvay Samiti submitted a memorandum to the police, claiming that the event posed a law and order threat. “The organisers have never raised their voices on issues like the persecution of Hindus in Kashmir and Bangladesh or terrorist attacks on India. This protest is not humanitarian but rather anti-India, anti-Hindu and indirectly supportive of terrorism,” said Sunil Ghanwat, national organiser of Hindu Rashtra Samnvay Samiti.

Feroze Mithiborewala, founder-president of the India-Palestine Solidarity Forum, said, “We have the right to criticise the government’s foreign policy; it is not illegal. Similar rallies were held in Delhi on Tuesday. The gathering was by national parties.”

The Bajrang Dal said that while they agreed that the groups wanted to exercise their constitutional rights by supporting Gaza and Palestine, they believed that the administration should think before granting permission. “In the past, when a particular community was attacked in Myanmar, protests were held here in 2011, which led to attacks on women police, the Amar Jawan Smarak, BEST buses, media, and created a tense situation, resulting in loss of life,” said Gautam Ravaria, Konkan province co-convenor of the Bajrang Dal. “The administration imposed a fine of Rs 2 crores against the rioters, which is still pending.”

Shriraj Nair, spokesperson, VHP, said that the groups planning the protest did not bother to speak out against the Pahalgam terror attack. “If the Mumbai police do not ensure this event does not happen, the Bajrang Dal will be forced to come out in solidarity with Israel who are victims of terrorism,” said Nair.