New Delhi (GNP): India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said on Tuesday that key leaders were detained after entering Jantar Mantar, the protest site in New Delhi that police have sealed.
The detentions come amid several days of street protests. Opposition parties and supporters of the movement are demanding the resignation of the head of the Election Commission of India. They accuse the commission of manipulating voter rolls to benefit the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Election Commission of India, which oversees voting in the world’s most populous nation, has denied any wrongdoing.
Jantar Mantar became the focus of the standoff on Monday, when Delhi Police said the site had been taken off the list of designated protest sites. Police named three alternative locations. The site has been closed for several days behind yellow metal barricades and a heavy police presence.
On Tuesday, a video posted online by CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke showed protesters climbing over the barricades, running into the space and waving the national flag. Police then chased and detained them.
In a social media post, the group said those detained included leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde. It added that Delhi Police had detained all of them.
The site carries weight for the movement. Protesters have gathered at Jantar Mantar for decades, and CJP demonstrations there led to the education minister stepping down over an examination scandal in July.
With tens of thousands of security personnel deployed around key areas, demonstrators have turned to flash protests at unexpected locations. This forces authorities to respond on the move. Thousands of people were detained during weekend demonstrations, although many were later released.
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Protesters have also built their own support systems. Meghnad S., a 36-year-old content creator, has helped organise a network of around 170 volunteers who use smartphones and online coordination to track police vehicles and locate detained protesters.
Once a detainee is found, volunteers use a digital dashboard and WhatsApp groups to connect them with drivers offering transport, food and water. Doctors are sometimes recruited to accompany those being released.
Disguise has become another tactic. Some demonstrators have worn Batman masks to avoid being identified, and actress Richa Chadha urged protesters to consider make-up as a way to frustrate facial-recognition surveillance.
Student leader Neha Bora drew online attention after police detained a woman who resembled her. Bora later posted a photograph with her lookalike and called the resemblance a coincidence, not a strategy.
Videos have also shown protesters linking arms as police moved in, with some slipping away from waiting buses. The demonstrations have become a test of endurance between security forces trying to contain gatherings and young activists who rely on social media and rapid coordination to stay visible.
Dipke said, “You cannot denotify the resistance.”
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
