Maharashtra
Save Our Playgrounds: Azad Maidan Lost To Non-Sporting Activities One Pitch At A Time

Mumbai: Azad Maidan has hosted many of India’s legendary cricketers for their first tournaments as well as some of their record-breaking partnerships, giving Mumbai an identity as the city of cricket. As the need for open spaces to facilitate various developmental, social and political purposes has increased, its oldest playground has been shrinking one pitch at a time.
The triangular Azad Maidan was a hub for the Civil Disobedience Movement, when around two lakh people joined to greet Mahatma Gandhi. However, the ground has been more popular for launching cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli and others.
The 25-acre maidan has been distributed among 22 sports clubs, which have one pitch each. Since 2015, 16 plots, belonging to John Bright Cricket Club, Muslim United, Young Mohammedan and St Xaviers’, among others, have been handed over to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited for the construction of the underground corridor for Metro 3. While MMRCL had promised to hand over the ground and pitches after restoration by June 2024, the process is still nowhere close to being completed.
One of the remaining six plots has been handed over to Mumbai Police for their parade practice, one ground is appropriate only for children. This leaves Mumbai’s cricket enthusiasts with only four grounds that are fit to host a professional tournaments. These comprise Sassanian Cricket Club, Elphinstone Cricket Club, New Era and Hindustan Construction. Several political parties have also been permitted by PWD officials to build permanent offices on the ground.
“In the early 1990s, I had fought to evict illegal hawkers and slums which had encroached upon the playground, restricting cricket activities,” said Nadeem Memon, cricket secretary of the Mumbai School Sports Association. “We could successfully push out the illegal encroachment but are unable to do anything about the legal encroachment. Players have to go as far as Navi Mumbai and Vasai-Virar to play interschool matches.”
Azad Maidan has always hosted sports and civil protests, which flourished in the city alongside each other. After the metro construction work occupied a large part of the ground, including the protest site in front of the BMC headquarters, protestors were diverted to Fort Vijay Cricket Club, a 115-year-old club represented by renowned cricketer Vijay Merchant.
Jayant Jhaveri, secretary of Fort Vijay Cricket Club, said, “We opposed the decision to allow protests on our playground but that resulted in our field being concretised. Since 2017, we have not played any match on our ground and have to depend on the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for a substitute ground. This has also affected players’ performance. We are not able to form good teams due to this setback.”
While the maidan has also been hosting a few Ramlila performances and the annual Sunni Ijtema on a regular basis, the frequency of such non-sporting events has increased in recent times. Mega marathon events and political rallies have hindered sports activities. The recent swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti government was also organised at Azad Maidan.
Several religious functions are also held here, and have caused a lot of damage.
“When we ask for permission to upgrade something, the authorities deny the request citing the heritage status of the ground. At the same time, [organisers of] non-sporting activities are allowed to dig up the ground to set up huge pandals for multiple days. In some of these events, they have also broken the fencing of the ground. While setting up the pandals their trucks run over our pitches which hurts like they are running over our hearts,” said Memon.
These surprise events pause the game for a few days as the permission given to the organisers to set up their pandals starts two days before and ends two days after the actual event. This results in postponement of multiple tournaments as well as affecting the playing field, which is known for hosting various prestigious tournaments including the Harris Shield and the Giles Shield.
Manik Madkaikar, a cricket coach associated with MCA, said, “The number of non-sport events in Azad Maidan has increased in the last year. Such events cause irreparable loss to the field and a lot of things go for a toss. Groundsmen work tirelessly to level the field and everything is ruined with one event. These mega marathon events earn crores of rupees in profit, but this money is never spent on betterment of the ground.”
“Days when events are organised on the maidan, they become no-play days for us. Irregular matches and uneven ground affects our performance in tournaments, where we aspire to perform well. The effect of this is suffered mostly by schoolchildren who cannot participate in interschool tournaments as the postponement collides with their examinations,” said Vineet Kumar, a young cricketer.
Maharashtra
Congress locks Mumbai ED office, Case registered against Congress workers

Mumbai: Mumbai Enforcement Directorate Police have registered a case against 15 to 20 Congress workers for protesting by locking the ED office. The protest was held at the ED office when it was on holiday and the Congress workers locked the already locked office. According to the police, the office was closed during the protest, but a case has been registered against Congress workers and protesters in this case. The protesters also raised anti-government slogans during the protest at the ED office and the protesters said that Modi sends the ED forward whenever he is afraid. Congressmen have continued to protest against the investigation and inclusion of their names in the charge sheet against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. Congressmen have protested in the same manner, after which a case has been registered. This case was registered by MRA Marg Police and the investigation is ongoing. No one has been arrested in this case, this has been confirmed by local DCP Praveen Kumar. Police have tightened security around the office following the protest.
Maharashtra
Waqf Act is a discriminatory law, an attack on democracy… Along with the fight in court, democratic protests will also continue until the law is withdrawn: All India Muslim Personal Labor Board

Mumbai: The Mumbai Waqf Act is unfair to minorities and has many flaws. The Waqf Act has been introduced on the basis of bias to deprive Muslims of their rights and it is a law that destroys democracy. Protests against this law will continue until it is withdrawn. The problem of law and order has also arisen due to this law. Under this law, the powers of the state governments have also been taken away. These are the views expressed here today by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Saadatullah Hussaini. He said that the Waqf Act is unfair to Muslims and it is unacceptable.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board spokesperson Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that the law implemented in the Waqf Act was objected to in the JPC. Now this matter is under hearing in the Supreme Court. The court has definitely given temporary relief, but until it is returned, we will continue our legal and democratic fight on it. This is a biased law. There is a separate law for other religions and the Constitution allows us to have religious institutions and worship according to our customs and traditions. An attempt has been made in this act to deprive us of this right. The application of the Waqf Act under the guise of the poor and other backward classes is a fraud and deception. The suspicions that the government has created regarding Waqf are based on complete lies. If the government wants to work to provide rights to the poor and other classes through the Waqf Act, why was the Waqf Development Corporation taken away? Under the guise of the Waqf Act, the government has attacked Indian democracy and the constitution of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and hooliganism is being done. It is being said that this law will have to be accepted. This law will not only affect Muslims but is an attack on the spirit of the constitution. If the Prime Minister is so sympathetic to the poor widows, why did he not give justice to Bilqis Bano? In the Gujarat riots, Ehsan Jafri’s widow Zakia Jafri, a victim seeking justice, reached the grave. What atrocities were committed on Muslims in Gujarat in 11 years, everyone knows that this government does not want to nurture Muslims, but wants to destroy them. The opposition has strongly opposed this bill, but despite this, it was passed. The Waqf Act was passed unanimously in 2013. What was the need to bring this law at that time? When this law was passed, the BJP was also in favor of it. There was no opposition to it. They said that this law is a clear violation of Articles 24, 25, 11, which protect our rights.
Muslim Personal Law Board General Secretary Fazlur Rehman Mujaddidi said that now under the Waqf Act, the waqf will have to prove that he is a Muslim. In this, the JPC has made it a condition to be a practicing Muslim. This is against the law. Earlier it was said that being a Muslim for five years is a condition, but now it will have to be proven that you are a Muslim and practice Islam. Along with this, in case of a dispute, this land will be declared as government land. Misconceptions have been created regarding the Waqf Act and Waqf and these misconceptions have been fueled in social media. It was also spread in the media that the ownership of the waqf is so high and in the Allahabad High Court case, it was said that now the High Court has to go to the Supreme Court for justice in the matter of waqf. This is completely wrong. This was a dispute over a mosque on the road outside the High Court, which Kazmi Sahib had built for worshippers, thus spreading suspicions.
Munsa Bushra Abidi said that Muslim women will be at the forefront of any protest announced by the Muslim Personal Law Board. The government cannot give lollipops to Muslim women because they know the government’s intentions and the drugs. She said that women are involved in all kinds of protests, from bati gul to salaam, and we will continue to protest against this law. Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, Peace Committee Head Farid Sheikh, and representatives of other religions also participated in this press conference:
Maharashtra
Mumbai human trafficking racket busted, West Bengal and Hyderabad arrested

Mumbai: Mumbai Wadala TT Police has claimed to have arrested child human traffickers from Hyderabad, West Bengal in a human trafficking case. According to the details, the complainant Amar Dhirne, 65, a sweeper from Wadala TT Police Station, had filed a missing complaint of his grandson on August 5, 2024. After that, it was found that Anil Purnia, Asma Sheikh, Sharif Sheikh, Asha Pawar had sold the child for Rs 1.60 lakh. After that, a case of human trafficking was registered against the accused Anil Purnia, Asma Sheikh, Sharif Sheikh. The accused Anil Purnia, Asma Sheikh were deported from Mumbai. The accused Asha Pawar was also involved in this. After that, the police started searching for Asha Pawar and arrested her from Hyderabad.
During the police investigation, the accused said that the victim was taken to Bhubaneswar station, Odisha. A woman named Reshma sold it. After technical investigation, it was found that the accused is employed in a dental hospital in Bhubaneswar and works in a high-tech hospital here. But when the police team reached Bhubaneswar, she had quit her job and then it was found that the wanted accused is in West Bengal. After that, the police started searching for her and the police recovered the kidnapped child and three other children. At the same time, Reshma Santosh Kumar Banerjee, 43, was arrested and presented in court. Along with this, the three-year-old child was presented in court and the child was handed over to the police. After completing all the steps, the police got the child medically examined and found signs of injuries on his body. The accused had tortured the child, so a case of cruelty was also registered against the child. This action was taken on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Pansalkar and Special Commissioner Devin Bharti, Additional Commissioner Anil Paraskar and DCP Ragasudha.
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