New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and convener Abhijeet Dipke Thursday alleged CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had been put in judicial custody for merely attempting to unfurl the tricolour at Jantar Mantar, questioning how the act could threaten law and order.Dipke was addressing a news conference at Press Club of India alongside AISA’s Neha Bora, SFI’s Aishe Ghosh, AISF’s Viraaj Devang, actor-activist Prakash Raj and senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan, among others. The speakers demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, release of Das and Ranka, and restoration of access to Jantar Mantar for protests.Dipke accused Modi govt of deploying state resources to protect Kumar. “Students have been protesting for the past 10-15 days and are being dragged away. Opposition leaders were also detained. Transport services have been restricted to prevent demonstrations. And all this for whom? For one man, Gyanesh Kumar. Why is Gyanesh Kumar so important to Narendra Modi?” he asked.Calling on people to gather at Connaught Place’s Central Park at 5pm on Oct 16, Dipke said: “We want to show them that hoisting the tricolour is not a crime.”Bora said the movement drew strength from ordinary households and extended beyond organisational banners. “When you drag people through Delhi’s streets, you are dragging those 13 crore people whose names have been removed from the electoral rolls. This movement will not stop because of your sexual harassment or physical assaults,” she said, referring to alleged voter deletions and misconduct against protesters.Expressing solidarity with journalists, Bora alleged that they had been detained, their cameras snatched and warnings issued against covering demonstrations. A woman journalist who approached police with a sexual harassment complaint found that a counter-FIR had been registered against her, she added.Raj alleged Form 6 was being used to delete Muslim voters’ names in 23 Karnataka districts, describing it as a “silent erasure” of people who lacked a voice. He also claimed SIR was being used to erase evidence relating to elections held in 2022, 2023 and 2024.“India’s borders are with Bangladesh, Pakistan and China. They are not in Delhi. Why are you creating a border in Delhi between us and the Election Commission? We are asking the Election Commission questions. Why are you intervening and spending our money on the police and the army?” he asked.Challenging Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Kumar to answer questions before the media, Raj said: “An answer to our question cannot be another question. It must be an answer.” Saying young people had overcome their fear, he added: “Every street will become Jantar Mantar.”Bhushan questioned SIR’s implications for people who frequently changed residences, citing Form 6 declarations and possible imprisonment for incorrect declarations. Alleging Delhi had been shut down to prevent the Oct 10 protest, he said: “People have the right to protest as much as traffic movement has the right. It doesn’t have to be curbed; it has to be regulated.”Sibal criticised what he described as the “subversion of constitutional institutions”, warning that arbitrary revisions and mass deletions of voters could undermine electoral integrity and democracy.Ghosh urged citizens who believed in democracy to unite, alleging arbitrary detentions reflected an Emergency-like situation. “A precedent is being created… if you hoist the tricolour, you will go to jail,” she said.Devang alleged students had been dragged through the streets, leaving many injured. He demanded Kumar’s resignation and an end to SIR. ASAP co-incharge Eshna Gupta questioned the scale of police and paramilitary deployment: “Are we at war? Has our country been attacked?”Meanwhile, an altercation over questions raised by some journalists disrupted the press conference, forcing the speakers to pause and ask the organisers to remove those causing the disruption.
