NEW DELHI: Around 150 people demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal were detained in and around Jantar Mantar Saturday.Security forces were deployed at various entry and exit points of Jantar Mantar to prevent people from mobilising for demonstrations called by student and political outfits.Those detained included senior advocates Prashant Bhushan and Kapil Sibal, Swaraj India founder Yogendra Yadav and AISA national president Neha Bora.Bhushan and Yadav continued their protest inside Bahadurgarh police station and livestreamed a session on social media, explaining their demands.A day after Friday’s protest on the same issue, participants again demanded Kumar’s removal due to alleged irregularities in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.In Delhi, the names of over 47 lakh people have been deleted in the draft SIR roll and another 33 lakh have received notices to explain “logical discrepancies” in their records.“The booth-level officers are now asking me to register as a new voter using Form 6 instead of updating my new address. After 40 years of living in Delhi and voting in every election, why should I do that?” asked Diwakar, who stood away from protesters to avoid detention.Over 50 buses were parked at various points near Jantar Mantar to detain the protesting students. At 1.43pm, a few sloganeering students were picked up and shoved into buses; a string of detentions followed.“If there’s enough of a crowd to cause trouble, detentions are warranted. But they’ve planned to take us away as soon as we arrive to prevent even a small gathering,” said a Delhi University student.Around 3pm, members of All India Students’ Association marched from Rafi Marg to Janpath Marg and tried to breach the barricades leading towards Jantar Mantar, triggering a tussle between students and police. “We’ll definitely be detained,” said Altaf Husain of All India Students’ Federation.“But it is important to register our protest against the injustices committed by the authorities. We won’t back down even in the face of repression,” he reiterated.Many participants were, however, unhappy with the way the protest was organised. Although scheduled to begin at 1pm, it gained momentum only by 3pm, and those who gathered were confused about how to enter the protest site as police barricades were set up at all points, they said.“There is no leadership for this protest. Even with internet access, we don’t know where to go and how to get there,” said Atrey, a DU student.A statement released by AISA alleged manhandling, including groping, of women protesters, journalists and lawyers by male police personnel. A video circulating on social media showed a male police officer grabbing AISA national president Bora from behind to detain her.Protesters immediately surrounded the officer, compelling him to release her. No response was received from police regarding the allegations.Meanwhile, following protests in Mumbai, Cockroach Janta Party has announced a Chalo Dilli march on Oct 10 on the same issue.
