The leader of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth movement, Abhijeet Dipke, was arrested by police on Friday as authorities cracked down on new anti-government protests in the Indian capital.
Dipke was arrested ahead of a planned Friday evening protest he had called in central Delhi, calling on supporters of the movement to come out and wave the Indian flag.
The Cockroach movement initially emerged in May as an online satire, but has since become one of the most significant challenges to the powerful Modi government during its 12-year rule.
Along with student groups and opposition parties, his supporters took to the streets of India’s biggest cities last month to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, accused of overseeing an overhaul of India’s electoral rolls that would favor the ruling government of Narendra Modi with the deletion of 130 million names. The Election Commission and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deny the claims.
Authorities, particularly in Delhi, have responded to recent protests with a draconian crackdown, including banning public gatherings, deploying tens of thousands of police and detaining thousands of people last weekend.
Friday’s protest was called by Dipke after the arrest and imprisonment of two of his fellow CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. They were sentenced to five days in prison this week for jumping police barricades and staging a brief protest – including waving the Indian flag – at a site recently restricted by police for demonstrations in Delhi.
At a press conference on Thursday, Dipke condemned “repressive” attempts to silence the CJP movement and called on his supporters to come out and show Narendra Modi “that we are not afraid”. He added: “If waving the Indian national flag lands you in jail, we are ready. »
Delhi Police have once again taken extreme measures to try to prevent Friday’s protest, scheduled to be held in a park in a busy shopping mall in the heart of Delhi, from taking place. Police were deployed en masse to the area and a police notice was sent to Dipke ordering him to call off the protest. Local authorities in Delhi also closed the park where the protest was to take place.
When Dipke refused to call off the protest, police arrested him along the way, just as people began to gather for the protest. In videos captured during his arrest, the CJP leader was seen waving an Indian flag and saying, “I have not broken any law yet…how can you detain me?” as he was taken away by dozens of police officers.
In a message published after his arrest, the CJP posted on social networks: “This government is so afraid of young people who brandish the national flag. »
Neha Bora, a student leader who has become a leading figure in the protests, was also arrested Friday as she began a march in the center of the capital.
Despite Dipke’s detention, around 2,000 protesters gathered and displayed flags during the protest around Connaught Place in Delhi. Among them was Sanna, 23, who said the brutal police crackdown on peaceful protests in recent weeks demonstrated that India was “on the road to dictatorship under the Modi government.”
“We are here only to peacefully wave the Indian flag and they are treating us as if we are criminals and not citizens exercising our democratic rights,” she said. “Gyanesh Kumar must resign, and no matter what the police do, whether they arrest us or crush our heads, we will not stop protesting until he leaves. »
Smaller protests also took place on Friday in Mumbai, Bangalore and Patna.
The BJP claimed that the Cockroach movement and the opposition political alliance had staged protests to cause “anarchy” in the country. “Their only intention is to stage a coup in the country,” said BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Authorities have also made unusual efforts to punish figures who have been seen at recent protests calling for Kumar’s resignation.
In Mumbai, Bollywood actor Imran Khan was ordered to leave the country after being arrested by police while participating in a protest last weekend. Khan, who holds a US passport, was asked to leave the country by the end of the month, an order he is now challenging in court.
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