Protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar to resume at Jantar Mantar a day after hundreds detained

AISA president Neha Bora says the agitation will return to Jantar Mantar on Saturday, after Delhi Police detained at least 700 protesters on Friday. Amnesty International has called the action an attack on the right to assemble.

The protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation will resume at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar at 1 pm on Saturday, October 3, the All India Students’ Association has announced, a day after at least 700 protesters were detained in the capital. AISA is calling the protest “Jantar Mantar 2.0” and has urged supporters to turn up in greater numbers.

Bora urged supporters to return to the site and said their peaceful protest would continue. The announcement follows Friday’s detentions, which included AAP leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, activist Yogendra Yadav and members of student organisations such as AISA, SFI and NSUI. Student groups, including the Fraternity Movement and MSF, said their members were dragged and detained, a claim the police have not addressed.

Amnesty condemns detentions

Amnesty International called the action a “blatant attack” on the right to assembly. The report adds that journalists covering the protests were also reportedly detained and blocked from working. Police had imposed Section 163 across New Delhi, denied permission for the protest, cut internet around Jantar Mantar and closed 11 metro stations. The Constitution guarantees citizens the right to assemble peaceably, subject to reasonable restrictions, and police have not said what threat to public order justified detaining protesters in such numbers.

Reports differ on how many were at the site. ThePrint counted 200 to 300 protesters, while The Week says around 350 students and activists were stopped before they reached Jantar Mantar.

Beyond Delhi

The Delhi action coincided with a large gathering led by the Cockroach Janta Party at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Gandhi Jayanti, where supporters also demanded Kumar’s resignation. Party founder Abhijeet Dipke has said the group will hold protests in six more cities, ending at Jantar Mantar by the end of October.

The demands

The movement seeks Kumar’s resignation, a freeze on the SIR roll and a transparent process for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner. The Election Commission has not responded to the demand in the reports reviewed. The Delhi Police’s stated reason for Friday’s action was that no permission had been granted.

The protests come as the Commission faces scrutiny over the roughly 13 crore names struck off draft rolls in 30 states and Union Territories, and as it orders a special drive to bring back voters left out in states where the SIR is complete.

Friday’s detentions did not end the protest. They brought it back to the same place the next day. Whether the police will allow it to continue, and how the Commission will answer a demand now backed by students, opposition leaders and an international rights group, are the questions Saturday will test. For now, the Commission has answered the protesters with silence and the police have answered with detentions.

Image credits: Bhawika Chhabra reuters

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