India's 'Cockroach' party says its leaders have been detained ahead of a major protest called by the collective. Protesters are calling for India's chief election commissioner to resign.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and other party leaders detained on landing in Delhi. 43,000 police and security personnel deployed across Delhi. Internet services suspended in central Delhi. Massive restrictions in place on metro and railway services. CJP called for a rally — that has not been authorized by police — to oppose ongoing revision of voter lists and demand resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
DW Hindi's Adarsh Sharma, who is on the ground in New Delhi, spoke to protesters as they faced a security crackdown. He caught up with one protester who managed to avoid detention. "We were running back and forth. When the police are moving forward, we go back. When they are withdrawing, we are moving forward," the protester told DW. The protester described the heavy police presence as a "game of perception." "Where you have 20 protesters and 10 media persons, there are 100 police personnel standing. It seems like a joke, what they are doing with taxpayers' money," the protester said. Another protester, Jasmine, described how the morning unfolded for the demonstrators. "We have been playing a game of cat and mouse with the police, trying to stop them from picking us up," she said. "I don't think we have ever seen something like this happening. Protesting is a fundamental right… it's such a convoluted idea to take permission to protest… you are protesting against a government, will you ask permission from the same government? They are not going to give it," she said.
Ajinkya Shinde, who was handed the responsibility of leading the Cockroach Janta Party's protest following the detentions of its main leaders, has made his first statement — calling for a continued march to Jantar Mantar. "We appeal to everyone to march towards Jantar Mantar! If Delhi Police tries to stop you, wherever they stop you will become your Jantar Mantar," he said in a video post made by the CJP on X.
Indian media outlets, including Scroll and Newslaundry, reported that their journalists had been detained by police while covering the 'Cockroach' party protest. The journalists were later released. Newslaundry reported that police seized its reporters’ phones, while other reports said journalists were physically assaulted. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Delhi Police to immediately release all detained journalists and media workers.
Detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke's grandmother is reported to have died on Saturday. Indian media reports said that Dipke's paternal grandmother had been suffering from a prolonged illness and had been unwell in recent days. She died in her native village in Maharashtra, reports said. News agency ANI, citing police sources, reported that the Delhi Police had informed Dipke of his grandmother's death. It was now up to the CJP leader to decide whether to continue his protest while under detention or travel back for the funeral rites.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has indicated that it will press on with its protest despite its leaders and supporters being detained. CJP's National Organization In-Charge Ajinkya Shinde will lead the protest at Jantar Mantar until Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka remain in detention, the group said in a statement on X. In a separate post, the CJP alleged that its three detained leaders had been taken to an undisclosed location, were being denied access to lawyers and had been cut off from "all contact with others."
The formal association of advocates at India's apex court called for urgent intervention by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant after several lawyers were detained by Delhi police. The Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution condemning the use of "excessive force against, and detention of, senior and young advocates, particularly women advocates, who were peacefully protesting in the Supreme Court area today."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has slammed the measures taken by Indian authorities to prevent the Cockroach Janta Party's protest from going ahead. He called out a "war-like deployment" of security personnel and said that the suspension of the internet in a key part of Delhi was among the "most regressive" and "repressive" measures. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also mounted an emergency-related attack against Modi's government. "This is worse than the Emergency. It's official.. we are living under an absolute dictatorship ruled by Modi," he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal of "attempting to incite tensions" in the country. "The Govt of India will deal strictly with the attempts you are making to incite tension, and BJP workers, remaining constantly among the people, will effectively thwart your designs," BJP President Nitin Nabin told news agencies on Saturday morning.
News agency ANI reported, citing police sources, that 200 more people were detained in the key Connaught Place area as they tried to reach the Jantar Mantar protest site.
India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated his demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down and critized the Modi government. "Gyanesh Kumar will go. This government will go. Then the repair of democracy will begin," the Congress leader wrote on X.
Delhi Police said in a statement that around 500 people were detained on Saturday as they arrived for the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party, news agency ANI reported. The police added that an additional 50 people had been arrested and described them as "anti-social elements with criminal antecedents" who had been taken into custody to ensure that they "did not disturb" public order or "incite trouble."
