India releases detained protesters over electoral rolls — Al Jazeera
In the Indian capital, New Delhi, police said all those detained during mass protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had been released. Leaders of the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) vowed to continue the actions after their release, Al Jazeera reports.
Those detained included CJP founder Abhijit Dipke, his associates Saurabh Das and Ashutosh Ranka, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora, opposition politicians and journalists. According to police, CJP leaders were released on condition that they do not allow breaches of public order for one year.
Heightened security measures
On the eve of Saturday’s protests, authorities deployed more than 30,000 police officers and paramilitary personnel in New Delhi, local media reported. Roads and markets were closed in the city, train and metro services were halted, and mobile internet access was restricted in several districts.
Security forces set up checkpoints on major roads and at entrances to the city, inspecting buses and cars. The Jantar Mantar area, the designated protest site near India’s parliament, was blocked to prevent demonstrators from reaching it. Small rallies nevertheless took place in other parts of the city, including near the Dilli Haat craft market, where police also detained protesters and journalists.
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The ANI news agency reported that around 600 people were detained in Mumbai over the protests. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern over reports of temporary detentions of media representatives. Newslaundry said its reporters had their equipment confiscated during detention.
Protesters’ demands and the authorities’ position
Participants in the actions are demanding Kumar’s resignation over the revision of electoral rolls, which they believe disproportionately benefits the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Protesters claim that millions of voters, including Muslims, were removed from the rolls, and that the process was accompanied by technical errors and a lack of transparency.
The protests intensified after an Indian Express publication reported that two election commissioners had objected to a number of Kumar’s decisions. According to the outlet, approximately 130 million names were removed from the rolls. The Bharatiya Janata Party said that these included 28 million deceased people, 63 million people who had changed their place of residence, 10 million duplicates and 30 million people whom officials could not locate.
The opposition INDIA Bloc alliance supported the demand for the election commission chief’s resignation and planned to hold a protest in the capital on Monday. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Indian authorities to fully respect the right to peaceful assembly and begin meaningful dialogue with protesters. India’s mission to the UN in Geneva called the international criticism inappropriate, stressing that the right to assembly is guaranteed by the country’s Constitution but may be restricted in the interests of public order.
