The Opposition on Wednesday condemned the arrest of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde by the Delhi Police for trespassing on Jantar Mantar a day earlier.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that “waving the tricolour” at Jantar Mantar during a peaceful protest “is not a crime” and jailing young persons for it is an “act of cowardice”.
Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India and “we will reclaim it”, he said on social media.
Ranka and Das were sent to judicial custody for five days by a magistrate court. Shinde was released on a personal bond.
They were detained on Tuesday with other members of the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign after they “sneaked into” Jantar Mantar to protest the authorities’ decision to denotify the area as a designated protest site.
The leaders have also been accused of violating a bond and obstructing a public servant from discharging their duties.
Calling out the arrests, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said that the Union government was “arresting Indians for unfurling and waving the tricolour in their own country” and wrongfully constituting the act as a “breach of peace”.
All India Students’ Association head Neha Bora said that the government was trying to crush dissent through the arrests and “ensure...