Pune: Palestine Pamphlet Campaign Ends in Assault in Karvenagar, Police Probe On
Karvenagar, 12th May 2025: Tensions flared in Karvenagar on Saturday afternoon after some individuals distributed pamphlets in support of Palestine, leading to a commotion in the area. A video of the incident, showing some people being assaulted, also surfaced on social media, further escalating the situation.
Following the altercation, both sides approached the police to file complaints.
According to People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a pro-Palestine movement, called ‘BDS Movement’ (‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanction’ Movement) has been launched worldwide to protest against various sections and companies supporting Israel directly or indirectly. They have given a call to boycott companies and brands that have a presence in the occupied Palestine for profiteering, Domino’s Pizzas being one of them.
The youths and activists belonging to the local unit named ‘BDS, India’ and ‘Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine’ (IPSP) had organised a demonstration in front of “Domino’s Pizza’ outlet situated in Karve Nagar area. The activists displayed informative posters and distributed pamphlets to appeal to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and oppose the genocidal war in Gaza. They were appealing to the people to boycott the brands and companies which are acting against the people in Palestine.
While the demonstration was being conducted by young female and male activists peacefully, right-wing activists came there and started threatening and assaulting them; alleging that they were supporting ‘Palestinee-Muslims’. “The activists were urging them not to give communal colour and were trying to reason and convince them that they are against the inhuman, genocidal acts to which the people from Palestine / Gaza have been subjected for the last many months. They were also trying to inform them about the BDS movement. However, they paid no heed and started assaulting the activists, tearing off the posters and threatening them. Some activists were injured in this assault.
After some time the Police came there but instead of taking action against the hooligans, they took the activists to a nearby police chowky; they detained some of them”, PUCL stated in a press release.
According to the activists, while they insisted on lodging a written complaint against those who attacked, the police (Alankar police station and Warje Malwadi police station) avoided accepting the complaint till late at night on Saturday. Moreover, the injured were taken to Sassoon Hospital for medical check-ups only after a lot of persuasion. The complaint was accepted only on Sunday, 11th May at noon after insistence by the students since morning. However, acting on the complaint no action was taken by the police, the activists are approaching the Police Commissioner, Pune for appropriate action.
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DCP (Zone 3) Sambhaji Kadam told Punekar News, “Cross-FIRs registered by both sides. Investigation is going on. “
