Police crack down on anti-SIR protesters in Bengaluru, detain 100

Protesters who tried to march to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka’s office in Bengaluru on Monday, to condemn the Delhi Police’s treatment of demonstrators protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), faced similar heavy-handedness from the Bengaluru City Police, with at least 100 people detained, and students, lawyers, and women protesters allegedly manhandled. 

Senior journalist and activist Aakar Patel was also detained. The police threatened journalists covering the protest and ordered them to leave the spot, while three photographers were manhandled, despite repeatedly identifying themselves as members of the Press. 

Several protesters, most of them students, were forcibly pushed into buses by police personnel, many of whom were not in uniform. Male police personnel were seen forcing women protesters into buses, with the police arguing that the protesters would return to the spot if they were released. 

A senior police officer, however, defended the actions, arguing that the police did not know about the protest and were taken by surprise. Given only Freedom Park is the designated protest site, they were bound to detain protesters outside that venue. He also admitted that since the police were not aware, the force included mostly male personnel. 

The protest was organised by Left student and youth organisations across Karnataka, which planned marches to the CEO’s office in Bengaluru and Deputy Commissioners’ offices in other districts. They demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of SIR of electoral rolls. 

In Bengaluru, the protesters assembled near K.R. Circle, a few metres from the CEO’s office, and planned to submit a memorandum to the CEO. However, the police detained them before they could march to the office.  

In their memorandum to the CEO, the protesters said they had lost faith in the SIR process, pointing that the exercise is leading to the denial of voting rights, arbitrary deletion of names, procedural irregularities, and a lack of transparency and accountability. 

They also questioned the handling of cases in which FIRs had been registered over bulk filing of Form 7 applications, asking why Electoral Registration Officers had not filed complaints yet.   

The groups demanded immediate cancellation of the SIR, the resignation of Mr. Kumar, restoration of the January 2025 electoral rolls, and safeguards against arbitrary deletions in any future revision. The groups said they would protest until the CEC resigns.