Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson detained ahead of Quit India Day march, released

Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, was detained by the police while he was on his way to attend a march on the anniversary of the Quit India movement. He was later allowed to go and attend the protest.

He was detained at Santa Cruz Police Station while he was travelling to August Kranti Maidan, the venue of the march.

The Quit India movement in August 1942, with Mahatma Gandhi’s call for immediate independence, was launched at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank, which later came to be known as August Kranti Maidan due to its association with the historic occasion. The movement is a major milestone in the history of India’s struggle for independence from British rule.

Tushar Gandhi tweeted about his detention today morning.

"For the first time in the history of Independent India, I was detained at Santa Cruz Police Station as I left home to commemorate August 9 Quit India Day. I am proud my great grandparents Bapu and Ba, have also been arrested by the British Police on that historic date," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Nearly three hours later, Tushar Gandhi said he was allowed to go to August Kranti Maidan, the venue of the Quit India Movement march.

"Now being allowed to go. Proceeding to August Kranti Maidan. Inquilab Zindabad!" he tweeted.

Tushar Gandhi revealed an incident about how a driver of a taxi, which he hailed to take him to August Kranti Maidan, panicked upon seeing a police car.

"I got into a rickshaw at Santa Cruz Police Station after I was allowed to go. When we reached Bandra, I hailed an old Muslim taxi driver to take me to August Kranti Maidan. He saw the police car and panicked, and told me 'saab mujhe nahin fasna' (Sir, I don't want to be involved in these things)," he said in a tweet.

He further said he had to convince the driver a lot to reassure him, adding that "fear in society is so palpable".