Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Apprehending that he and several other leaders of his Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) could be taken under preventive detention to foil their attempt to stage protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke handed over the responsibility of taking the movement against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar forward to Ajinkya Shinde.
The Organisation In-Charge of CJP will lead the protest until other leaders are freed, Dipke announced in a pre-recorded video on Saturday. Soon after Dipke’s detention from the flight, the video was posted on the CJP’s X handle with Dipke handing over the baton to Shinde in the absence of the top leadership.
“If you are watching this video, it means that I, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have been arrested. In our absence, Ajinkya will lead the protest and the CJP movement. Please follow him,” Dipke said in the video. In a video statement, Shinde urged the supporters to keep moving towards Jantar Mantar and asked them to protest at whatever point they are stopped.
“The government is scared of our unity. Please come to Jantar Mantar. If police stops you, turn that very spot into Jantar Mantar,” Shinde said. Dipke and CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police personnel who entered their flight as it landed in the Capital from Mumbai to lead the protest.
Ajinkya Shinde from Maharashtra has been a close associate of Abhijeet Dipke for years. He previously served as a social media coordinator for the AAP Maharashtra team. He reportedly first met Dipke in Goa in 2016. Shinde had quit his corporate job to work full-time for the Aam Aadmi Party. After joining AAP, he dedicated a year to the Goa elections. Although the party failed to open its account in the Goa Assembly elections, Ajinkya remained committed to the party and began working with the AAP Maharashtra team. He has reportedly toured every district in Maharashtra. Ajinkya hails from Alibaug, a coastal town in the state.
Earlier on Saturday morning, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained from his house in Gurugram by Delhi Police. Rathee, a known critic of the Narendra Modi government, had arrived in India from Germany earlier this week and had joined the CJP protest in Bengaluru on October 8.
Dramatic scenes played out around Jantar Mantar as police personnel rounded up protesters who tried to reach the protest site. The detained protesters were bundled into police buses and taken to Chhatrasal Stadium in the Capital. Police also arrested at least 400 protesters in an overnight crackdown in different parts of the Capital.
Leaders of youth and student organisations on Saturday vowed to continue their protest until all their demands, including the rollback of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, were met, despite the detention of several key organisers ahead of the CJP planned demonstration in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court fixed a special hearing on Sunday of a contempt petition challenging the blanket shutdown of public transport, rail and Metro service designed to deter protestors converging in the national capital to demand the resignation of the CEC. A Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana to preside over the hearing.
Hundreds of the CJP along with other citizens and workers, were brought from multiple locations across Delhi to Chhatrasal Stadium in Model Town on Saturday where they were being held, according to those present at the venue.
Even as the Delhi Police — who denied permission for the demonstration — arrested the top CJP leaders, the party said the protest against the CEC and SIR would continue with or without its leadership. Protesters were also detained in Mumbai August Kranti Maidan.
UN Human Rights expressed concern over mass detentions of demonstrators after October 10 anti-CEC protest in Delhi. They said on a social media post, ”We are concerned by reports of mass detentions of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists, before and during today’s large-scale demonstrations in Delhi. We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled.”
SFI Joint Secretary Aishe Ghosh demanded immediate release of detained CJP leaders, Dipke, Saurav Das, Ranka and others leaders. The CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh posted at 7:13 p.m. on Saturday that she was not released from her detention. She wrote, “I am still detained. Since 9AM. There are 30 police official for one woman.” The CJP members alleged at a press conference on Saturday evening that they have no information on Abhijeet Dipke, Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka’s whereabouts after their detention in the morning.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police said, “We have initiated the process to release protesters, who were detained across Delhi during the protest.” A senior Delhi Police officer said over 5,000 protesters, including CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke, CPI(M) leaders, and student activists, have been detained in New Delhi.