London: A section of diaspora groups in the UK organised an “Emergency Protest” outside the High Commission of India in London in solidarity with the protests in New Delhi.
Convened by the South Asia Solidarity Group, Cambridge South Asian Forum Against Hindutva, Indian Workers’ Association and SOAS Ambedkar Society, among other groups, the protest Tuesday evening attracted a large student gathering, with participants expressing solidarity with the “Jantar Mantar 2.0 protests” and the struggle in India to defend the right to vote and the right to protest.
The gathering was called to “amplify” the demands of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), including the demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in India.
“This is not just about one corrupt official, it is a mass uprising,” said Mukti Shah of the South Asia Solidarity Group. “For us in Britain, it is especially important because this regime is a key player in the global far-right, which is increasingly active in this country.”
Student group leaders addressed the gathering, calling on members to organise in solidarity with the protesters in India.
Protesters held placards targeting the CEC and condemning what they described as “police brutality and sexual violence against protesters, journalists and lawyers”.
The protest was part of a wider show of solidarity, with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) UK also organising gatherings in Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh during the week.
Protests have intensified in New Delhi, with the CJP, student groups and opposition parties demanding electoral reforms and the resignation of CEC Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls across the country under the SIR exercise, which began last year.
The Election Commission maintains that the exercise is intended to update electoral rolls by identifying deceased, duplicate, shifted and otherwise ineligible entries.
The agitation has also brought restrictions on public demonstrations into focus.
The CJP a youth-led movement that began as a satirical social media initiative and has since evolved into a pressure group mobilising protests over political and public issues had called for a protest at central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar October 10.
But Delhi Police barricaded roads leading to the site and detained hundreds of people attempting to reach the protest venue.
On October 11, the Delhi Police designated Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as venues for protests in the city, following which Jantar Mantar, a prominent protest site, was denotified as a designated venue for demonstrations.
The CJP has opposed the move, arguing that relocating demonstrations away from central Delhi would reduce the visibility of public dissent.
The confrontation escalated Tuesday when CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde allegedly breached barricades and entered Jantar Mantar without authorisation, raising slogans demanding Kumar’s resignation and erecting a national flag, according to the police.
The three were arrested. On Wednesday, Das and Ranka were sent to five days’ judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail for allegedly trespassing, violating prohibitory orders and breaching peace bonds, among other charges. Shinde was released after being bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months, police said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the action, saying that waving the national flag during a peaceful protest was not a crime and asserting that Jantar Mantar belonged to the people of India.
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