- Published
Thousands of 'cockroach' protesters are set to return to the streets of Delhi on Friday, days after police prevented their last mass demonstration and two of their leaders were jailed.
asserted
two → publish → leaders
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement seeking electoral reforms, has called on supporters to gather at Central Park in Connaught Place, a busy commercial district.
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Party → lead → Place
The call follows the jailing of two CJP leaders for five days after they entered Jantar Mantar, a protest site recently declared off-limits by police.
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they → follow → police
What began as a campaign against alleged electoral fraud has since become a wider fight over the right to protest.
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began → begin → right
The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to pass an order restraining the CJP after a local trader filed a petition citing disruptions to traffic and business as reasons why Friday's protest should not be allowed.
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protest → decline → reasons
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, meanwhile, has named the protest Lehra Do Tiranga, or Wave the Tricolour, as many Indians informally refer to the country's orange-white-green flag as Tiranga.
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Indians → name → Tiranga
Dipke has said he is prepared to risk arrest himself.
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he → say → arrest
Police barricades and mass detentions prevented many protesters from joining their demonstration last Saturday.
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barricades → prevent → demonstration
Dipke has urged those unable to make it to Delhi to raise the Indian flag and protest wherever they are.
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they → urge → flag
The CJP has come a long way from May, when the movement began with an insult.
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movement → come → insult
After India's chief justice likened some unemployed young people to cockroaches, Dipke embraced the label and turned it into an online protest movement.
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Dipke → liken → movement
By July, he and his supporters were filling the streets over examination paper leaks, in protests that forced India's education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.
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that → fill → Pradhan
Within months, the "cockroaches" had become one of the most visible expressions of youth anger at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
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cockroaches → become → government
Now they are taking on something bigger - India's elections.
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they → take → something
At issue is a sweeping revision of electoral rolls, known as Special Intensive Revision (SIR), that critics say has removed more than 130 million names, putting legitimate voters at risk of losing their right to vote.
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critics → know → right
The CJP wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign, accusing the poll panel of favouring Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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Kumar → want → Party
Both the commission and the government deny the allegations.
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commission → deny → allegations
Friday's march comes less than a week after police prevented the movement's last mass demonstration from taking place, detaining its leaders and deploying officers across the capital before protesters could assemble.
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protesters → come → capital
Dipke and two senior organisers, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained from within the aircraft upon landing in Delhi.
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Dipke → detain → Delhi
The capital was put under a sweeping security lockdown.
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capital → put → lockdown
Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel had fanned out across Delhi, sealing roads, shutting metro stations and intercepting protesters long before they could reach Jantar Mantar, where the CJP had planned its mass demonstration.
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CJP → fan → demonstration
The BBC witnessed dozens of people being detained, including journalists and students.
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dozens → witness → journalists
In footage from across Delhi, protesters could be seen shouting as police seized them by the arms, dragged them across the pavement and pushed them into waiting buses.
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police → see → buses
Some struggled against the officers; others, already detained, pressed towards the bus windows, waving Indian flags.
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others → struggle → flags
Those who managed to gather elsewhere were swiftly dispersed.
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who → manage → ?
There were also reports of protesters being assaulted by police.
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protesters → be → police
The BBC captured footage, external of a policeman slapping a detained protester inside a bus.
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policeman → capture → bus
The Delhi police did not respond to questions about the use of violence against protesters.
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police → respond → protesters
The scale of the crackdown drew accusations that the authorities were determined to prevent the protest rather than police it.
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authorities → draw → it
The CJP likened the police action to India's Emergency, when civil liberties were suspended between 1975 and 1977.
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liberties → liken → 1975
Delhi police defended the measures as necessary to maintain public order and prevent unauthorised gatherings.
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police → defend → gatherings
Dipke, Das and Ranka were released on Sunday after agreeing to maintain peace and good behaviour.
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Dipke → release → peace
Police then took Jantar Mantar off Delhi's list of approved protest sites, telling demonstrators to go instead to Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground or CBD Ground.
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Police → take → Maidan
Built in the 18th Century to study the stars, the observatory sits near parliament and has long been one of India's most recognisable stages for public dissent.
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observatory → build → dissent
The CJP accuses the authorities of pushing protesters away from the seat of power to make their demonstrations less visible and easier to ignore.
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demonstrations → accuse → power
On Tuesday, Das and Ranka returned anyway, bringing a handful of supporters.
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Das → return → supporters
They unfurled the Indian flag and shouted slogans against Kumar.
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They → unfurl → Kumar
Police said they had entered the restricted site without permission, some by climbing over a locked gate, and violated the conditions of their earlier release.
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they → say → release
The following day, Das and Ranka were sent to Tihar Jail for five days in judicial custody.
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Das → send → custody
Another organiser, Ajinkya Shinde, was released on a bond to maintain peace and good behaviour.
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organiser → release → peace
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
