Students and Activists Marching to Jantar Mantar Detained in Central Delhi
Scores of students and activists were repeatedly detained across central Delhi on Friday after police barricaded major thoroughfares to prevent them from marching to Jantar Mantar. The protest, organised on Gandhi Jayanti by several youth and student outfits alongside civil society members, targeted alleged irregularities in the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls and demanded the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
With key routes to Jantar Mantar shut by authorities, different student groups initiated marches from separate assembly points across the area. Members of the All India Students’ Association began marching from the Vice-President’s Enclave, while Students’ Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India members assembled at Mandi House. In addition, members of the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India staged a march starting from Raisina Road.
AISA president Neha Bora, activist Yogendra Yadav, and several other marchers attempting to advance toward Jantar Mantar via Patel Chowk were halted at Samrat Ashok Chowk. Ms. Bora was apprehended by at least four women Delhi Police personnel wearing pink vests without nameplates and pulled toward a police bus, surrounded by Central Armed Police Forces personnel, before being transported away alongside other demonstrators.
High drama unfolded near the Shangri-La hotel on Ashoka Road when AISA members formed a human chain to intercept a police bus. Ms. Bora and several protesters jumped out of the vehicle, sat on the road, and chanted slogans against Mr. Kumar before security personnel surrounded them and forced them back into the buses. Ms. Bora and several other protesters managed to escape the buses multiple times before being detained again.
Akshat Shikhar, a Delhi University student affiliated with AISA, said he managed to get out of a police bus twice after doors were opened and because male students had been placed in a designated women’s bus. Criticism was also voiced by NSUI president Vinod Jakhar, who questioned why barricades and detentions were used instead of authorities answering questions regarding voters' democratic rights. Mudita of the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan similarly stated that protesters were denied both voting rights and the right to demonstrate.
Members of the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India and Disha Students’ Organisation were also taken into custody. The widespread road blockades scattered demonstrators and prevented visitors, including those travelling from outside Delhi, from accessing the Jantar Mantar area throughout the day.
