Leaders of India’s youth-led “Cockroach” protest movement have vowed to intensify their campaign against the country’s election authorities after their release from detention, as the Supreme Court issued directions against illegal detentions and restrictions on peaceful assemblies.
The movement, formally known as the CJP, called for fresh peaceful demonstrations across India, insisting that the campaign demanding the resignation of the election commissioner would continue despite the police action in New Delhi. Three prominent leaders, Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, were released after nearly 24 hours in detention following Saturday’s protest. The group alleged that its leaders were detained after arriving in the capital and were prevented from meeting their lawyers, according to news reports.
Addressing a press conference after his release, Das accused the authorities of using force against demonstrators and alleged that the country’s political system was failing to serve the public interest. Ranka declared that the movement would not retreat, saying the campaign had only just begun. The Supreme Court intervened on Sunday, directing authorities to prevent illegal detentions of people gathering peacefully, subject to applicable legal restrictions. It stressed that peaceful assemblies must be permitted in accordance with the law, particularly outside areas covered by prohibitory orders.
The court also directed authorities to remove a notice board concerning restrictions on assemblies near its complex to prevent apprehensions about access to justice. It ordered the restoration of Delhi Metro and railway services unless restrictions were necessary to maintain public order. Emphasising the importance of professional freedom, the court further directed that lawyers and journalists should not be obstructed from performing their duties, following reports that members of both professions had been detained during Saturday’s police operation.
The protests have intensified the political confrontation between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition parties over allegations of manipulation of voter lists. The BJP has dismissed the demonstrations as an attempt to create instability, accusing the opposition and the protest movement of promoting anarchy.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the CJP protest movement and opposition INDIA bloc of trying to create instability over allegations of voter-list manipulation. BJP president Nitin Nabin described the protests as an attempt to promote anarchy, while party MP Bansuri Swaraj accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal of using electoral defeats to challenge the political establishment.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke hit back at Modi following his release from detention on Sunday, describing the prime minister as an “embarrassment to India” and calling him a “coward” and “bully” in a post on X. The sharp exchanges underscore the escalating political confrontation between the ruling BJP, opposition parties and the youth-led protest movement,
Modi was in Chennai on Sunday to attend official engagements, including the laying of foundation stones for development projects estimated at more than 130 billion Indian rupees.
The latest developments place the focus on the authorities’ handling of public demonstrations, the legal boundaries governing assemblies and the continuing dispute over the integrity of India’s electoral processes.