Police and paramilitary personnel deployed behind barricades as authorities restrict the CJP protest (Photos: Media India Group/Aman Kanojia)
Thousands of protestors were detained all over Delhi as the national capital was turned into a fortress with huge deployment of Delhi Police and paramilitary forces by the Central Government keen to squash a protest mounted by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for his role in the botched up revision of electoral rolls under the so-called Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Delhi Police had already begun moves to ensure that protestors could not reach Delhi or Jantar Mantar, the protest site, days before. In an order that finally made even Supreme Court intervene, Delhi Police had ordered 57 metro stations to be shut from Friday night itself, while over 200 inter-city trains arriving into Delhi were cancelled. On Friday, the top court ordered the government to take proportionate measures in their attempt to maintain law and order on the day of the protest.
Finally, entry and exit gates at 45 Delhi Metro stations were closed from 21:00 on Friday until 18:00 on Saturday. Interchange facilities remained available at affected stations, except New Delhi Metro station.
Protesters raised the slogans against the government while holding placards
Delhi Police say they had denied permission for the October 10 demonstration at Jantar Mantar, citing security and procedural concerns. The application was reportedly submitted on October 7. Restrictions on public gatherings were also imposed in parts of the capital under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Barricades and road restrictions were in place from Friday as authorities prepared for the planned gathering. Media reports cited a deployment of more than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel, with some reports putting the figure at around 35,000.
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The security measures included checkpoints, traffic diversions and restrictions around key locations. Reports also described disruption to public transport and restrictions around some Metro stations.
The police detained CJP leaders including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, CJP legal head Ratna Singh and content creator Kavya Karnatac, while other leaders were detained around in Delhi near Jantar Mantar or while they were enroute to the protest site. The Students Federation of India separately said more than 400 of its members had been detained.
The protests are centred around the controversial revision of the electoral rolls, the so-called Special Intensive Revision that has seen deletion of tens of millions of voters from the rolls without due process, exercise remains a point of contention between the Election Commission, opposition parties and activists. The Supreme Court, too, has called for safeguards against the wrongful removal of eligible voters and transparent procedures for challenging deletions.
Police detain protesters during the CJP demonstration
The protestors are seeking greater transparency in the revision process and accountability from the Election Commission. The controversy has intensified amid allegations of electoral manipulation and concerns about the independence of the poll body. Protesters have argued that voters must be able to exercise their democratic rights without fear of wrongful exclusion.
According to media reports, more than 5,000 people had reportedly been detained across Delhi by Saturday afternoon. Those detained included student activists, opposition workers, lawyers and digital content creators, many of whom were stopped before reaching Jantar Mantar.
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Gopal Rai, MLA, Aam Aadmi Party criticised the government over the restrictions. “If they don’t end the Tana Sahi, if they don’t take back the black emergency, the movement will be over. Modi, your Tana Sahi won’t work. Modi, your Tana Sahi won’t work,” Rai told , Media India Group at a protest site.
A lawyer, who wanted to remain anonymous, at the protest site also alleged that demonstrators had been mistreated despite cooperating with the authorities.
“Look, we were quietly asking them to go ahead, we are walking with them, and on top of that they have misbehaved. One black coat spoke very rudely, very rudely. This is shameful, this is shameful. Today, this is Delhi’s fate. Very shameful. We were going quietly,” he told Media India Group.
Another protestor, Ritu, who did not disclose her full name, said she had come from Faridabad. She criticised the police restrictions and says the authorities had prevented people from exercising their right to peaceful protest. “They have shut down the whole of Delhi. They have put a lockdown. People are not allowed to raise their voices,” Ritu told Media India Group.
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She questioned why the authorities were not allowing the demonstration to take place. “Peaceful protest is everyone’s right. You have already detained people. You didn’t even let the protest begin. Why are you not letting us protest? Only then will we get an answer,” she asked.
Numbers written on the hands of protesters detained by Delhi Police (Photo: Rakesh Yadav)
She also accused the authorities of trying to intimidate the public, but said she was not going to be scared.
“If I was scared, I wouldn’t have come here today. And I wouldn’t have come on 20th July. And I wouldn’t have come after that. And I wouldn’t have come before that,” she said.
Rakesh Yadav, a businessman from Mukherjee Nagar in North Delhi, who said he was detained within the first hour of the protest, described the security deployment as disproportionate to the number of demonstrators.
“I was detained within the first hour itself. There were more police and paramilitary personnel than protesters, and there were no proper arrangements for the people detained. They also wrote numbers on the hands of the protesters who were detained. Those inside were passing the time by dancing, playing music, football and volleyball,” Yadav told Media India Group.
