Maharashtra witnessed one of the largest mass actions of traders on October 10, as retail traders, wholesalers and hawkers across the state protested against the entry of foreign and Indian multinationals into the retail sector.

In Mumbai more than 20,000 traders, shopkeepers and farmers gathered at the historic Azad Maidan on October 10, demanding that Indian and foreign multinational companies quit the retail sector. The protests were organised under the banner of the Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti, a joint action committee representing over 750 trade associations in the state.

The October 10 protest action in Mumbai was the largest such action organized so far, against the drive of Indian and foreign monopolies to enter the nearly 350 million dollar Indian retail market, expected to double in size by 2015. It reflected the strong opposition of small traders and shopkeepers to their prospective loss of livelihood and the opposition of farmers to the take-over of their lands by the big monopolies.

According to India FDI Watch, more than 40 million jobs would be lost, as against the 2 million that the retail monopolies promise to create. Small traders and shopkeepers would be squeezed out and farmers would be ruined, while people would be victims of the qualities and prices dictated by a handful of monopoly traders.

The Mumbai protests were targeted mainly against Reliance Retail and Wal-Mart, perceived as two of the biggest monopolies poised to enter the retail sector. Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of India’s biggest listed company Reliance Industries, plans to invest more than $5.5 billion in its venture. It may be recalled that recently, popular protests have forced the closure of several Reliance Retail outlets in north and East India. US multinational giant Wal-Mart Stores is trying to enter the Indian retail market by the back door after it signed a wholesale venture with India 's Bharti Enterprises.

Farmers joined thousands of shopkeepers and workers in the protest march, raising slogans like "It's now or never. Wal-Mart quit India!" The protestors also raised slogans against the government for providing support and protection to and facilitating the entry of Indian and foreign monopolies into the retail sector, thereby stabbing the Indian people in the back.