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Indian police detained dozens of youth protesters in New Delhi on Oct 3 during a second day of demonstrations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter-roll irregularities.
India n police detained several people in New Delhi on Saturday Oct 3, disrupting a second day of youth-led protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commission er Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter-roll irregularities.
The demonstrations were backed by the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party and key opposition parties. About 100 demonstrators removed security barricades at Jantar Mantar, a government-designated protest site in central New Delhi, and chanted vote thief, leave the post and Gyanesh Kumar, step down. Police then forcibly detained some of them. Local media reports said over 100 protesters were detained overall.
Delhi police declined comment on the number and identity of those detained. Independent Member of Parliament Kapil Sibal, left-wing All India Students Association President Neha Bora and political activists Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were among the protesters, according to a Reuters witness. Bora told Reuters that authorities first removed people from the voters list and now they are not letting us raise our voice against this. She said this is not acceptable.
Cockroach Janta Party Condemns Police Crackdown
The Cockroach Janta Party chief Abhijeet Dipke said in a social media post on Saturday that Delhi Police must stop its crackdown on protesting students and activists. He said every attempt to suppress peaceful protesters will only bring more people to the streets and strengthen the march to Jantar Mantar. He added that dissent is a democratic right and cannot be crushed through intimidation or force.
Anti-government activist Yogendra Yadav asked if a designated protest site cannot accommodate peaceful dissent, where does democracy leave room for protest. The CJP has called for a massive mobilisation of young Indians in New Delhi on Oct 10. Other opposition parties and activists have also backed the protest call. Police in a statement on Saturday afternoon warned that unauthorised gatherings, public speeches, shouting of slogans, processions, demonstrations, dharnas and other specified activities are prohibited around Jantar Mantar.
Police said no permission had been granted for any protest scheduled for that day, nor had any prior intimation been received by New Delhi District Police. There was a heavy police presence around Jantar Mantar, which remained sealed off behind barricades. On Friday Oct 2, hundreds of protesters gathered on roads around Jantar Mantar and in Mumbai Shivaji Park. Police stopped a group of protesters from gathering, bundling them into buses.
Protests Scheduled Amid Tight Security Measures
Several nearby metro stations remained shut amid tight security. Though police released many of those detained on Friday, they charged several of them with allegedly violating orders banning mass gatherings in Delhi, according to a police source. Opposition parties have announced plans for more protests, including a march to the Election Commission in New Delhi on Oct 6 and Save Democracy rallies countrywide in the days following.
Critics say a nationwide voter-verification exercise launched last year has led to millions of eligible voters being removed from electoral rolls. The commission, long regarded as one of the country most trusted institutions, says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters. On Friday the commission directed officials to register newly eligible voters and those omitted from electoral rolls. A newspaper investigation by The Indian Express in September alleged impropriety during a large-scale voter-roll revision.
Election Commission Rejects Voter Roll Allegations
The Election Commission of India, the constitutional body responsible for conducting elections, has rejected allegations of wrongdoing. Kumar has not commented on the protests and the demands to step down. The protests continued despite police action and security measures in the capital. The youth-led movement has become a significant challenge for the government this year and has put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi unprecedented in his 12 years in power.
The Cockroach Janta Party and other opposition groups have mobilised supporters against the voter roll changes. The situation remains tense in parts of New Delhi as demonstrators vow to continue their campaign.
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straits_times:Indian police detain several people in Gen Z-led protests against voter roll changes 
ChannelNewsAsia:Indian police detain several people in Gen Z-led protests against voter roll changesThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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