Mumbra bandh to condemn the Pulwama attack

On Saturday, residents of Mumbra observed a bandh to condemn the Pulwama attack on CRPF jawans. The locals supported the all party bandh and did not mind the inconvenience they had to go through to reach their workplace.

Ajaz Sheikh, 41, a resident of Tanveer complex in Kausa, said, "I learned that Mumbra is shut today and had to walk all the way to Mumbra station. But it was all to support the movement," he said. Sheikh would daily leave his home by 9 am reach his office in Thane by 10 am. But on February 16 when he stepped out, he did not find any rickshaws to ferry him to the station. "We stand together with the family of the martyred soldiers in this hour of grief. And it is okay to be inconvenienced for a day, as it is to support a bigger cause," he added.

Just like him, Parvez Abdul Hafiz Ansari, 35, from MM Valley, Mumbra reached his Goregaon office at 12.15 pm instead of the usual 10 am. "Today the roads were full with people but there were no rickshaws. The buses were full too, so I walked to the station. But we support the bandh to express our solidarity towards our country," he said.

The bandh was for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm and was called by all political parties in Mumbra. "The Pulwama attack was not on our soldiers but on our country. And we are ready to fight for our country if the government asks us to," said Ayaz Babu Shaikh, Mumbra block president, AIMIM (All India Majleese-ittehadul-Muslimeen).

"For the last four years the government have been talking about how well-prepared they are to protect the country. But this attack showed that the terrorists can get into our territory and beat us," he added.

Lowdown

• Bandh was declared for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm, and was called by all political parties in Mumbra.
• It was backed by the residents and locals too.