A day after students staged a huge protest near the residence of Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad in Mumbai, YouTuber and social media influencer Vikas Fhatak, popularly known as ‘Hindustani Bhau’, was arrested on Tuesday, 1 February, by the Dharavi Police for allegedly instigating students. He was sent to police custody by the court till 4 February.
Hundreds of students from Dharavi protested on Monday, 31 January, against the Maharashtra government's decision to conduct offline exams for classes 10 to 12 – and demanded the exams to be conducted online amid the omicron surge.
The police, while controlling the situation, resorted to a mild baton charge against the student protesters to stall them.
The protests resulted in a mild baton charge by the police.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
The YouTuber was arrested over a video in which he could be seen asking students to assemble near Gaikwad’s residence to put their demands forward.
According to reports, Fhatak was present at the protest in Dharavi.
Vikas Fhatak in a still from the video that called for cancellation of offline exams.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
The protests, which spilled over to Nagpur, saw at least two buses being damaged by the agitating students.
FIR Filed Against YouTuber
The First Information Report (FIR), which names Fhatak among others, has been registered under multiple sections of the IPC (including that for rioting), Maharashtra Police Act, Disaster Management Act and Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
In a video uploaded on 24 January, which till now has over 2.77 lakh views, Fhatak can be heard saying, "In these two years, many people died because of COVID. Till now, families are recovering from the shock. And now the new drama of Omicron has started. What is this? The government is urging people to remain indoors. Then why take offline exams of the students."
It is not the first instance where Fhatak has found himself at the centre of a law and order situation. He had reportedly led the student protests in Dadar's Shivaji Park in May last year to waive school fees, following which he was arrested for violating the COVID protocols. Fhatak's Instagram account, too, was briefly suspended last year after multiple people reported the hateful videos he had been uploading.
Fhatak was arrested in May last year for violating COVID protocols.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
Meanwhile, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the decision to take offline exams was taken after careful consideration. He added that all preventive measures – from maintaining social distancing to wearing of masks – will be taken.
The health minister has requested the protesting students to cooperate with the government in conducting the offline exams.
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