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Delhi stadiums, halls double up as detention centres for 7,000 during CJP's Jantar Mantar protest
Detainees included politicians, students, lawyers, activists, journalists and creators, many of whom continued protesting at holding sites.
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Police detained close to 7,000 people across Delhi from the early hours of Saturday, picking up protesters at railway stations, at the airport, outside hotels, at their homes and on the streets, and filling police stations, stadiums and community centres, where many of the detainees carried on protesting.
They were responding to the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP’s) “Chalo Delhi” call, which seeks the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar among other demands. Those detained ranged from former chief ministers and lawyers to social media influencers and student leaders. “The instructions were to ensure there is no repeat of the Jantar Mantar 1.0 protest and detain protesters wherever they are seen,” a Delhi Police officer, who asked not to be named, told HT.
Protests Continue at Detention Sites
At Nangloi, Chhatrasal and Bawana stadiums and the Yamuna Sports Complex, detainees kept up their slogans inside the enclosures, according to people held there. Lawyers taken to the Yamuna Sports Complex were seen singing the national anthem in videos.
At Nangloi Stadium, Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim and other detained activists of the Students’ Federation of India announced a hunger strike, according to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). They demanded action against, and an apology from, a Delhi Police inspector who they alleged had misbehaved with students, and the return of phones and bags they alleged police had taken from them illegally.
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At Netaji Subhash Place police station, veteran CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat spoke to young detainees, some of whom, she said, had travelled from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and been detained at New Delhi railway station that morning. “Earlier, people were scared of this government. That is what they used to say. But now this government is scared of people. The people are rising,” Karat said in a video shared by the party.
Political Leaders and Activists Detained
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was taken to the Jaffarpur Kalan police station in southwest Delhi with other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, among them Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, MLA Kuldeep Kumar and Durgesh Pathak. He was detained at around 4pm and released around 8pm. “Outside people have surrounded the police station from all sides. This place has become Jantar Mantar 2.0. Modi ji, your prisons will fall short. Do not mess with the country’s youth. Take Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and stop stealing votes,” he posted on X.
Around 100 protesters, including All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora, activist Yogendra Yadav, advocate Prashant Bhushan and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, were detained on Sri Aurobindo Marg in the afternoon, after protesters blocked the bus carrying the leaders for about an hour.
Outside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, where hundreds of protesters had sheltered overnight, police detained those who left the premises; a pilgrim put the number at 150-200, police at 50-60.
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Detentions Beyond Politics
The crackdown also reached people outside politics. Actor Raj Zutshi was taken to Mahindra Park police station, and economist and activist Jean Drèze to Adarsh Nagar police station, where he refused to leave in the evening until the others detained during the day were also released.
Several journalists, content creators and YouTubers had been detained on Sansad Marg by 10am.
Detentions in Gurugram and Haryana
Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who recently travelled to India, was detained on Saturday morning at his home in Kendriya Vihar in Gurugram’s Sector 56 as he tried to leave for Delhi to join the protest. Haryana Police said at least 150 student leaders and political activists from Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal, Jhajjar, Rewari and other districts in southern Haryana were also detained at their homes and on roads.
Also Read | India hits back at UN rights office over remarks on Delhi protests, calls concerns ‘misplaced’How long they would be held depended on the situation in Delhi, a senior Haryana Police official said. “If asked or felt necessary by the Delhi Police, personnel may remain deployed at their homes,” the officer said.
Some Detainees Released
Authorities released those held at the Jahangirpuri community centre and Adarsh Nagar police station in the evening, Drèze among them, officers said.
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