Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 23: The police on Friday halted a march against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Central Delhi even as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders vowed to continue the agitation against SIR and declaring that the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was “inevitable.”
The march called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Delhi Coordination Committee of the People against SIR, which started near Gole Dak Khana at the intersection of Kalibari Marg and Vir Singh Marg, was halted by the police in central Delhi as participants sought to head towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters to protest against the alleged deletion of voters.
The nationwide protests are demanding the removal and prosecution of the CEC.
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat slammed the Modi govt. during the protest march against the SIR process, saying, “Let the Modi government sign a peace bond that it will stop the attack on the right to vote, stop the attack on the Constitution, stop SIR, and ensure the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.”
When police stopped the protesters, they sat down and held a ‘People’s Parliament’ as announced by the organisers. “This is not about reclaiming Jantar Mantar; this is about saving democracy and the country,” the protesters said.
In a related development, the CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka appeared before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg police station on Friday and later vowed to continue their movement against the SIR with Mr Das asserting that CEC Gyanesh Kumar would have to resign.
The two were summoned by the police to appear before the SEM at the Mandir Marg police station in connection with separate cases registered against them. “The movement continues. We are custodians of this platform which has been given to us by the people of this country. We are just trying to do our best. The movement continues even when we are in jail,” Mr Ranka told reporters after appearing before the SEM.
“As for our future plans, that is something everyone will decide collectively. It is not a decision to be taken by CJP alone. Many people are associated with this movement, and everyone will discuss and decide on the next course of action. We have learnt a lot of things about ourselves and the way the regime is working, and we will change and evolve in the necessary manner,” Mr Das said adding that the next steps would be announced once finalised. “Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation is inevitable,” he asserted.
On the notice received from the Crime Branch, Ashutosh Ranka said, “We are waiting to hear from them. We have not received a specific date yet. We could not make it on the previous date, and we had informed them about that. They said they would confirm the timings, so we are waiting for the Crime Branch to get back to us.”
The duo were summoned by Delhi Police Crime Branch for questioning in connection with the October 13 protest at Jantar Mantar but they had sought more time. The Crime Branch had summoned these two leaders, who were released on Wednesday after giving a written undertaking not to breach peace, in connection with the two separate cases registered against them for allegedly trespassing and obstructing public servants at Jantar Mantar on October 13.
Recently, both cases were transferred to the Crime Branch. Das and Ranka sought more time to appear before the Crime Branch. These two leaders were directed to furnish personal bonds and surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each until the conclusion of the inquiry. These two leaders were initially sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after being detained in connection with the CJP’s protest. Their custody was extended by two days on October 19 and expired on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the special executive magistrate court ordered the release of Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after they gave written undertakings that they won’t breach peace or call for protests at Jantar Mantar as long as the site remains denotified.
The order from the SEM came after the police sought a three-day extension of their judicial custody, arguing that apprehensions of a breach of peace and disturbance of law and order persisted in view of their previous conduct and statements made in the media.
Furthermore, the police argued that Das and Ranka had given contradictory statements before the court and in the media regarding their willingness to refrain from similar activities. Their written reply submitted during Wednesday’s proceedings was also cited as being contrary to their earlier submissions, according to the order.
The CJP welcomed the release of Das and Ranka, with founder Abhijeet Dipke calling them “much, much bigger leaders” than himself and legal head Ratna Singh saying the decision should have come earlier.
AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal also welcomed the SEM’s order releasing Das and Ranka and said the entire nation stands with them. Earlier, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said the judicial detention of Ranka and Das was linked to a violation of a peace bond and not to their attempt to unfurl the national flag.