March 20 Boycott Actions in Mumbai (India) and Brussels - 300 Arrests in Mumbai : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

Latest news - 300 Arrests in Mumbai

Mumbai March 20th 2004 - The boycott action started at 4:30 pm (Indian
standard time) at Hutatma chok near Churchghate Station. More than 300
protesters & volunteers turned up on the streets, shouting out slogans and
holding their placards. The protesters gathered an even more number of
commuters making the whole protest look like a massive rally. The following
was the messages on the placards: "Wanted! George W. Bush for crimes
against humanity and the planet", "US War Crimes Sponsored by Marlboro",
"Boycotting Marlboro reduces war victims" etc. The
protesters were comparing Bush with Hitler and ordering Bush to
leave occupation of Iraq. Coca-Cola and Pepsi were not spared either.

The whole campaign was attracting a lot of journalists. A few of the
campaigners were also giving brief interviews to the press. As the
campaign started to get a lot of heat, the police started to arrest people.
They started it by arresting the person who was talking to
the press; the innocent protester was resisting the arrest when suddenly he
was over powered by 6 to 7 policemen. Similarly a woman was also arrested.
Many volunteers were pulled to the police trucks by their legs with their bodies
lying down on the roughand hot ground. Even after the protesters were
arrested, they kept on shouting the slogans. It was as if their own
brothers, sisters and children's had suffered in the WAR.

Also the boycott action coordinator, Mr. Manish Kumar, and one of the
volunteers Mr. Chandan Chaturvedi along with about 300 volunteers were
arrested and taken to the police station near Mumbai Central station.

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Brussels, March 20th 2004 - During the anti-war demonstration in Brussels
activists of For Mother Earth attracted a lot of media-attention with a
funeral procession. A black coffin was carried by George W. Bush, Mr. Death
and two US marines all armed with guns. The coffin was marked with the
number of fatalities since the start of the war in Iraq one year ago. Amongst the
dead are 8,581 Iraqi civilians, 13,500 Iraqi soldiers and 571
US soldiers. The coffin also carried the logos of six important donors to
George W. Bush and his Republican Party: McDonalds, Chevron/Texaco, Philip
Morris/Kraft, Exxon-Mobil, Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo. The McDonalds
restaurant near the Brussels stock-exchange building closed its door when
the activists picketed its front door. For Mother Earth believes that these
new anti-war demonstrations are not enough to stop US unilateralism. "We
need direct actions which stop business-as -usual. The boycott is the ideal
method" according to a spokesperson. The activists received lots of
sympathy.

Today the international boycott network also organized actions
amonst others in Auckland (NZ), Tokyo, Mumbai, Delhi en Kolkota (India),
Rawalpindi, Bahrain, Cairo, Vienna, Copenhagen, Rome while several
Exxon-Mobil petrol stations were visited in the US state of Vermont. This
morning there was also an action at a Esso petrol station in Hasselt, in
the east of Belgium. The activists stress that there actions are not
anti-American. "We work together with US citizens for another America"
according to a boycott campaigner.

Pictures from the boycott action during the Brussels demonstration against
the war can be found on http://fme.sincerethought.org/gallery/albun21
and
Indymedia Belgium
http://www.indymedia.be/news/2004/03/82119.php

((original forwarder) long time ago i posted some news on the FME network.
Good to be back! Here is some news about todays anti-war demonstration in
Brussels and Mumbai. Check also http://www.boycottbush.org If any of you gets
excited about the international boycott network we have set up during
the latest World Social Forum last January, please contact us. The
international secretariat of the Boycott network is hosted by For Mother Earth.)

Cleveland Indy Media Center