Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool leaders released after detention
Collected Photo
Police detained thousands of protesters, opposition politicians, journalists, student union leaders, lawyers and organizers of the Cockroach youth movement in India’s capital New Delhi to prevent a protest demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner.
Among those detained was former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who staged a sit in outside a residence in Delhi. She was released at around 6:35 pm.
Trinamool Congress leaders and lawmakers Dola Sen, Derek O’Brien, Pratima Bandopadhyay and Samirul Islam were also detained and later released.
The Indian Express reported that 6,000 people were detained in Delhi. However, police sources said around 5,000 protesters were detained in the city.
Before her detention on Saturday, Mamata said, “The police are not even allowing us to stage a peaceful sit in. Staging a sit in and protesting are our constitutional rights. The police are interfering with that too. I have been detained unlawfully. I do not know where they are taking me.”
Meanwhile, 45 metro stations in Delhi will remain closed until 10 p.m. on Saturday to suppress the protests.
Actor Imran Khan was also detained while protesting in Mumbai in support of the CJP. At least 400 people were detained in the city. No information about his release was available at the time of writing this report.
Regarding the denial of permission for the CJP to hold a program at Jantar Mantar, Delhi Police said the application was submitted too late. An application seeking permission on behalf of Sourav Das was submitted on October 7. Under the current guidelines, permission must be sought at least 10 days before an event.
Opposition leader Rahul posted a video on his X account about the protests and said, “The youth of India, keep protesting. I am proud of you.”
The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and other youth groups had called for Saturday’s protest in the Indian capital, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protesters alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in collusion with Kumar and other officials appointed to the Election Commission, was using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to manipulate voter lists.
Meanwhile, opposition parties said the removal of names from voter lists had also affected the results of some recent state elections won by the BJP, raising questions about the electoral process in the world’s largest democracy.
The CJP had planned to gather thousands of people at Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in central Delhi. However, security forces sealed off the area before the protest began on Saturday.
Thousands of police officers and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the capital to prevent the demonstration. Trains bound for Delhi were canceled and mobile internet services were suspended. Metro stations and markets were also closed, effectively placing the city under lockdown.
After arriving in Delhi from Mumbai, CJP founder Abhijit Deepak and his associates Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police while still aboard an aircraft.
Deepak shared a video on his Instagram channel showing a team of police officers entering the aircraft after it landed. As they approached him, he said, “I have come to be arrested. I am not afraid of you.”
Delhi Police also detained other CJP members, YouTuber and Modi critic Dhruv Rathee, All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha, the organization’s general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan and politician Yogendra Yadav.
Following the detentions, Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the opposition Congress party, strongly criticized the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a post on X, he wrote, “The Modi government has turned the ‘Mother of Democracy’ into a ‘Muzzled Democracy’! Detentions, arrests, jail, batons and pellet guns cannot suppress the people of India. Since the days of our freedom struggle, young people have played a leading role in shaping the country’s future.”
