Mumbai: Sheetal Sathe, wife of jailed Dalit activist Sachin Mali, has been organizing several campaigns and protests across the state for three years now. On Monday, it was the turn ofAzad Maidan to play host to a series of cultural performances and strongly worded speeches.

Sathe has received the support of people from all walks of life, from college students to retired government officers.

At Azad Maidan, the Yalgar Samskrutik Manch, a theatre group of graduate students from Mumbai University, held sway.

An activist, Dhammrakshit Randive, said their aim was to give a voice to the voiceless, and a system that stifles voices such as theirs was driven by a society that believed in silencing freedom of speech.

“The law that subjugates us, calling itself protecting nationalism, is actually the Brahminic law code that once deprived Dalits to freely express. We have all reason to believe that from all past occurences,” another activist, Rohit Tambe, said.

 

So far, Sathe has received support from almost 150 organizations, officials and groups. These groups consist of people from the underdeveloped rural parts, Dalits, Buddhists, poets and theatre enthusiasts who travel to different parts of the state.

Mali and Sathe, who are a part of the Kabir Kala Manch, surrendered on April 3, 2013, after two years of remaining underground following charges pressed against them by the Anti-Terrorism Squad under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

They were charged with being directly involved with Naxals and funding the activities of the left-wing rebels. Sathe was granted bail by the Bombay high court on June 28, 2013, on humanitarian grounds as she was pregnant.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Jailed-Dalit-activists-wife-organizes-protest/articleshow/54906696.cms