New Delhi: Protests broke out across several parts of central Delhi Friday evening as student organisations and protesters took to the streets, waving the Tricolour and raising slogans despite heavy police deployment and restrictions on gatherings.Even as CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke was detained, small groups of protesters carrying the national flag gathered at Connaught Place in response to the party’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ call. Soon, protesters took over parts of Inner Circle.Simultaneously, AISA president Neha Bora said the organisation would begin a march from Mandi House at 5 pm. Bora, accompanied by other AISA representatives and members of Left-affiliated groups, began marching, at one point breaking into a run. However, they were intercepted by police. Bora was surrounded by women constables, who struggled to escort her to a police vehicle amid pushing and jostling as she was being detained.Later, student and youth organisations SFI, DYFI, AISF and AIYF also announced they will join the tiranga rally to Central Park, while slogans were also raised at Janpath. In the afternoon, AAP also held a tiranga march near Rashtrapati Bhavan.Around 6.30 pm, protest activity shifted to Janpath, where members of AISA and other Left-leaning student organisations gathered with placards, raising slogans.A different scene was unfolding a few kilometres away. At 5 pm, as CP remained under heavy police watch, small groups of people carrying the Tricolour began gathering outside Palika Bazaar. A group of traders also reached the bazaar and raised slogans protesting against alleged losses owing to the protests.Some people, including members of student organisation Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), marched along Inner Circle, raising slogans, while others posed for photographs with the national flag, marking their participation in the ongoing movement. Central Park remained out of bounds for protesters. Despite the heavy deployment, police did not intervene or take action against those gathered till around 6.30 pm, when they started asking them to leave. Ten minutes later, the protesters started dispersing.Among the agitators was Ishan, a Hindu College student, who held the Tricolour aloft as he walked through the area. “Several students from our college are here. I don’t understand how govt can deny people the right to protest. It’s our democratic right,” he said.Pari (19), who arrived at CP at 4.30 pm draped in the Tricolour, was carrying a book on B R Ambedkar. She claimed that a man who belonged to a “right-wing group” snatched the book and fled. Despite informal advisories from her college against joining protests on the grounds that they could affect students’ careers, Pari said she was determined to raise her voice until CEC Gyanesh Kumar quit. “I am not afraid and will keep coming here,” she said.For others, the gathering was about keeping the movement alive and pressing for accountability. “We are here because this is how change will come. Those responsible for wrongdoing must be held accountable. This is not about one individual but about the entire system,” said Abhay, another student.The gathering was far from united in its views on SIR of electoral rolls. While many raised slogans against the exercise, some backed it and the governing party. A group repeatedly appeared wherever protesters assembled, claiming they were there to protect “law and order”. Alok Tiwari (27) from Noida, who identified himself as being from such a group, was seen confronting a man raising slogans against SIR. “They are obstructing public movement during the festive season, and I am here to prevent that,” Tiwari said.For Jharia (59), a trader at the Palika Bazaar roundabout, the issue was personal. His son’s and daughter’s names had been deleted from the electoral rolls. Standing with friends holding a banner against the CEC, he asked, “Koi inhe bataye ki vote katne se kya dukh hota hai?” Demanding that SIR be revoked, he said the protest was directed at EC and not any political party.Mumaina (73), an All India Democratic Women’s Association activist who had been detained on Oct 10, returned despite the prospect of another crackdown. “I have witnessed many protests in my life, but I have never been handled by police the way I was last Saturday,” she said. Sana (32), a model, was standing nearby. “I am back despite being badly beaten up by police on July 20 and Oct 10. They pushed us out of Jantar Mantar, so we have taken to the streets,” she said.
