In the latest rally demanding the resignation of India’s election chief, the leader of the country’s “cockroach” movement, Abhijeet Dipke, was detained by police on 16th October, live footage from his group showed, for the second time in a week, at a protest in the central business district of New Delhi.
Youth-led ‘Cockroach Janta Party ‘, opposition parties and student organisations have virtually staged daily protests this month demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for removing names of opponents from the electoral lists in favour of those of Bharatiya Janata Party chief Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Over 130 million names have been struck off electoral lists as part of the revision exercise.
The removals have impacted ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Muslims, disproportionately, critics say.
The Bharatiya Janata Party – a key player in Modi’s Hindu nationalist government — has long complained that Muslims from the neighbouring country Bangladesh have illegally flooded India’s electoral lists.
The authorities state the action was to remove duplicate, deceased and fraudulent voter entries and that those who had been mistakenly removed could re-join the voter rolls.
The BJP has alleged that its “enemy” is attempting to “unravel and desecrate the democratic process.”
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said Friday’s flag protest, in solidarity with two CJP leaders who were arrested and sent to jail this week for holding up a flag at a protest site that was banned, was an attempt to “raise awareness” about the issue.
The call to rally supporters under the banner of “Waves and hoists for India” has come from CJP and left-wing student groups, who are asking the public to meet in Central Park in the Connaught Place shopping and food hub of New Delhi on Friday evening.
“Why are you so afraid of cockroaches?” Dipke said Thursday.
“I want to assure Mr Narendra Modi that we are not scared; if he gets arrested for waving the Indian flag, we are prepared,” he added.
Meanwhile, Delhi police has appealed to the people not to “be a part of such assemblies,” and the civic body announced on Thursday evening that the park will stay closed for two days for “administrative reasons”.
Police said they were able to assist the group to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a “suitable location”.
Traders in the area have filed a petition in the Supreme Court for stopping the protest and paying them compensation for losses saying it will cause “severe loss”. They spoke of the recent protest which was foiled due to a security crackdown and traders lost money then.
The cockroach movement is considered one of the biggest political challenges Modi and his party face in their 12 years in power.
Proponents of the movement had earlier organized a sit-in protest leading to the resignation of the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan due to leaks in examination papers.
These protests have been triggered by an article published in The Indian Express that stated that some concerns had been voiced by Kumar’s two deputies with regard to the voter list and voter registration process.
