Around 500 people came together in Mumbai on Sunday for a peace march organised by Mumbai for Peace, a collective of citizens, workers, students, women’s groups, and activists, rallying against rising hate and intolerance while reaffirming their commitment to the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
The rally, held from 4 pm to 6 pm, began at Kotwal Gardens in Dadar and concluded at Chaityabhoomi, spreading a message of “love, peace, and fraternity” as participants sang “Mumbai Meri Hai” to assert that Mumbai belongs to all Mumbaikars and will not bow to the politics of hate.
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis, atheists, and citizens from all religious and caste backgrounds raised slogans like “Hum sab ek hain” (We are all one), “Mumbaikars ek hain” (Mumbaikars are one), “Pyaar mohabbat zindabad” (Long live love and affection), “Mumbai ki ekta zindabad” (Long live Mumbai’s unity), while invoking leaders such as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Savitribai Phule, Fatima Shaikh, Mahatma Phule, and Shivaji Maharaj, highlighting the historic plurality of the state and city.
The march, held ahead of World Environment Day, participants, including Adivasi activists from Aarey who have long defended Mumbai’s green lungs, also pledged to protect the environment by saving trees, mangroves, and beaches, keeping air and water pollution-free, and importantly, ensuring the safety of all Mumbaikars by standing united against the toxic effects of hate.
Activists Tushar Gandhi and Shakir Shaikh, writer Urmila Pawar, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, poet Pradnya Daya Pawar, educator Fr Frazer Mascerenhas, and Madhu Mohite, feminist activist Hasina Khan, amongst others, addressed the rally.
Tushar Gandhi called the march an “essential action”, stating that “today, hate is manifesting everywhere and becoming a predominant emotion.”
He observed that despite being a “humanitarian and cosmopolitan city and nation, we are turning into a very intolerant, hate-filled society.”
“To make our voices heard,” he explained, “we decided to organise this march. We will continue holding such events to declare that we will not accept this change passively.”
He added that the march was also meant “to assure those who are being subjugated and terrified that people stand with them,and that was the main reason behind it.”
Feminist activist Hasina Khan said, “Mumbai is a migrant city, shaped by people from all over the country, many of whom come as labourers from different towns and states. People from all walks of life have built this city.”
Yet, she noted that, “this very city, built on diversity and solidarity, is now witnessing an alarming rise in hate, violence, discrimination, and communal targeting, where Muslims are being abused, denied housing, denied work.”
“This peace march is our way of declaring that the civilians of this country are united. we refuse to accept this atmosphere of fear and division,” she said.
She further noted that, “The state-sponsored violence, riots, and targeting, which are mostly anti-Muslim and anti-Dalit, are unacceptable; that is why we organised this peace march—to save this city, because this city is ours,” declaring, “Yeh shehar hamara hai, is shehar ko ham logo ne banaya hai, kisi rajneeti party ne nahi (We built this city, not any political party. We, the citizens, built it).”
She further noted, “by ‘citizens,’ we mean people of all kinds, not just one community or gender identity, but indigenous people, people from different religion, caste, and every background who together built this city,” therefore, any form of hatred and divisive politics is completely “unacceptable.”
Writer Urmila Pawar said, “Mumbai is a city of people from different places and religions, and we all want peace. But today, discrimination based on religion and caste has grown. It’s no longer the way it used to be. People have grown detached from one another. Earlier, we lived together in harmony, now there’s a growing mindset that people should be kept apart. Incidents of violence over cow meat and similar issues have instilled fear in people’s hearts. Fear has taken hold of our society.”
Highlighting the importance of such a rally, she said that public presence matters more than online outrage.
Pawar, now 80, compared the march to her vivid childhood memories of roasting green peas over a fire, highlighting how people came together with a purpose for the march.
“This march is a step forward, peace and freedom can’t be limited to posts on social media.Those who write long messages and articles were nowhere to be seen. Who showed up? The activists-the ones who always raise their voices, who tirelessly work for peace, for rights, for freedom. They were there,” she said.
“Everyone has the right. But stating, ‘You are wrong, I am right,’ and attacking each other is not the way forward. We marched for peace, for humanity, we are the ones who walk the path of the ideals our Babasaheb gave in the Constitution,” she added.
The protest concluded with a pledge to protect the Constitution by reading the preamble in both Hindi and Marathi.
