Police detain leaders of India’s ‘cockroach’ movement at Delhi protest
Police in New Delhi detained leaders of the youth-led “cockroach” movement on Tuesday after they jumped barricades to enter Jantar Mantar, a site that authorities had just removed from the list of official protest venues. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) members, including Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde (photo), were among roughly 20 volunteers taken into custody.
Protesters demand election commissioner’s resignation
For weeks, CJP supporters and opposition parties have been holding near-daily demonstrations calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over revisions to voter lists. Critics say those changes favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Thousands marched on Monday, but a police clampdown over the weekend had already disrupted CJP’s plans for a larger demonstration.
On Monday, Delhi Police said Jantar Mantar, an open-air astronomical observatory, would no longer serve as an official protest site and named three alternative venues. Yet CJP leaders insisted on going there anyway. “You cannot denotify the resistance,” wrote CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on X after the detentions. A video posted to his account shows about a dozen volunteers scaling a gate and barricades, waving the Indian flag and chanting slogans before police moved in.
The Election Commission has denied showing any bias in the voter list revisions, saying wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol. But the movement, which has mobilised protests on various issues in recent months, has become one of the biggest political challenges to the BJP and Modi in his 12 years in power. Human Rights Watch called on the government to stop the “ill-treatment” and “arbitrary” arrests of protesters. “Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are fundamental rights protected under the international human rights law that India’s leaders claim to uphold,” said Elaine Pearson, the group’s Asia director.
