▲ Demonstrators protesting alleged unfairness by the Election Commission are detained by police in New Delhi, India, on the 10th, local time.
As the Gen Z group Cockroach Jan Parishad (CJP) attempted to hold a large-scale protest in the capital of New Delhi on the 10th (local time) targeting alleged unfairness by the Election Commission, Indian authorities deployed up to tens of thousands of police officers across Delhi and launched a crackdown, detaining the CJP leadership and thousands of protesters en masse.
The CJP stated in a release that three of its leaders—including founder Abhijit Dipke (31), co-founder Saurabh Das, and spokesperson Ashutosh Lanka—were detained by police at the Delhi airport that morning.
Local television footage captured founder Dipke telling police officers inside the aircraft upon arrival at the Delhi airport, "I came to get arrested. Arrest me. I am not afraid of you."
In response, an officer replied, "This is not an arrest" and asked for cooperation.
They had staged a protest on the 8th in the southern IT hub of Bengaluru, passed through Mumbai, and arrived at the Delhi airport by flight for the New Delhi protest before being apprehended.
The CJP originally planned to begin its protest that morning at Jantar Mantar, a government-designated protest site in Delhi.
However, local police denied permission for the protest the previous day on the grounds that the rally application was submitted late, and warned of legal action against anyone who failed to comply.
Starting the previous day, police deployed massive security personnel to Jantar Mantar and across Delhi to block protesters from gathering at the site.
Bloomberg reported that up to 60,000 security personnel, including police, were put on standby starting the previous day for this purpose.
Police set up barricades and concrete blocks on major roadways into the city to block vehicle traffic, conducted searches, and stopped buses to check whether protesters were aboard.
Additionally, 45 subway stations and markets were closed, several train services bound for New Delhi were canceled, and mobile internet networks around the planned protest sites and downtown areas were blocked starting the previous night.
Police also deployed riot control vehicles equipped with water cannons and tear gas launchers across the city and broadcast warnings prohibiting gatherings of five or more people.
Nevertheless, protesters in central Delhi denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission, chanted slogans such as "Long live the revolution," and were apprehended by police, being hauled away in dozens of police buses.
Amid this, Reuters reported that other protesters were arriving at the scene one after another.
Tanya Negi, a university student from Mumbai who arrived with two friends that morning, told the Associated Press, "We are a democratic country, but peaceful protests are being suppressed by force," asking, "Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi afraid of the youth of India?"
Police also detained Brinda Karat and K.K. Shailaja, leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), as well as Dhruv Rathee, a commentator with 19 million Instagram followers.
Furthermore, four reporters from local online media outlets covering the protest and some lawyers demonstrating outside the Delhi High Court building were also taken into custody.
In response, Arvind Kejriwal of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticized in a statement, "The arrest of 'Cockroaches' the moment they step off the plane shows an unprecedented level of fear [by the government]," adding, "We are living under an absolute dictatorship."
Another opposition lawmaker, John Brittas, told the AP, "The entire city is under siege. Citizens are being driven away," asking, "Is there democracy in this country?"
Previously, the CJP launched protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the strengthening of the Election Commission's independence and transparency, raising suspicions that the commission altered voter rolls to favor Prime Minister Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Suspicions have been raised that Kumar faced about a dozen objections and protests from the other two election commissioners excluding himself during the voter roll revision process, through which opposition supporters were allegedly deleted in massive numbers while ruling party supporters were increased.
Records showed that the Election Commission deleted approximately 130 million people during the revision process, including about 63 million voters who changed residences, about 30 million whose whereabouts were untraceable, and 28 million deceased individuals.
In response, the Election Commission explained that these figures refer to targets classified as problematic during the draft voter roll compilation stage, and that wrongly deleted voters can re-register on the rolls.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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