New Delhi: A group of protesters reached the periphery of the Press Club of India Sunday, raising slogans, triggering a response by Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF), which cleared the club’s parking on the main road of all vehicles: journalists’ and otherwise. This was minutes after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ratna Singh along with Aishe Ghosh of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and others addressed a press conference where they said that the protest will continue till Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns.
The press conference came a day after thousands of protesters were detained across Delhi in a bid to prevent the CJP’s Jantar Mantar 2.0 agitation, which centres on allegations of voter deletions during the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
“(CJP founder Abhijeet) Dipke, (spokesperson Saurav) Das and I were kidnapped,” said spokesperson Ranka, talking about their detention inside a flight. “Police also tried to make a spectacle out of it.”
He also claimed they were “inhuman” in the way they told Dipke about his grandmother’s demise. “They were standing with a mic and camera when they told Dipke,” said Ranka. “Dipke said he wanted to speak to his parents but they didn’t let him.”
They also spoke about their detention Saturday, with the CJP terming them “kidnapping”.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh said, “What they did was unlawful detention.. we were detained and told the orders had come from above. I was in detention for nine hours after which they asked me to go home but they kept the police outside to monitor our movement.”
She added, “Are they scared that they can’t let the citizens of this country protest?”
Referring to assaults on protesters by members of a fringe Right-wing group, she said: “When I asked police why aren’t you stopping goons from thrashing women, they said ‘we have orders to stop you not them’.”
Ratna also said the Supreme Court’s orders were not being implemented.
“The way the government has reacted to the protest call makes us feel that we are protesting for the right cause and that the government is scared,” she added.
‘Our belief confirmed’
Aishe Ghosh said men in plainclothes had barged into influencer Dhruv Rathee’s house—and bedroom—to “kidnap” him. “His and his parents’ phones were snatched so that they don’t give out information.”
“We have never witnessed three people being detained from an aircraft. I have been with the students’ movement for the longest time but never witnessed this ever,” she said.
The government’s reaction, she added, “confirms our belief in vote chor’ (vote theft).”
“Jantar Mantar 2.0 is on. We will keep fighting on the streets,” she said.
SFI president Adarsh M. Saji said all student organisations will stand with the CJP. “It is a broader movement. Jis jagah pe roka jayega, ussi jagah ko Jantar Mantar bana dalo (Wherever you are stopped, turn that place into Jantar Mantar).”
Talking about the conditions for Dipke, Das and his release, Ranka said, “They only said there will be no breach of peace for next one year. But breach of peace has been done by Amit Shah, Modi and Gyanesh Kumar.”
Das added, “We are fighting a big fight against vote chori. It has never happened since Independence.”
“The protest is still on,” Ranka said. “Our volunteers are still marching towards Jantar Mantar. They are still being detained. The protest will continue till Gyanesh Kumar doesn’t resign.”
Ranka, Das and Singh left the Press Club after their press conference. Questioning the attempts to stop their agitation, the activists said they were asking permission to protest at a designated site, not at the residence of prime minister or home minister
Edited by Sunanda Ranjan