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Students detained ahead of Amit Shah's Alwar visit as they planned protest to demand his resignation over CJP crackdown
Detentions in BJP-ruled Rajasthan's Alwar come against backdrop of a wider pattern of detentions ahead of Amit Shah's public engagements in recent weeks
Rajasthan Police detained a group of college students in Alwar on Sunday ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah's public programme in the city as they were planning to hold a protest and show black flags to him.
Shah, accompanied by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, is scheduled to address a public meeting at Vijay Nagar Ground in Alwar and launch development projects worth ₹6,279 crore across the state, including ₹783 crore worth of projects in Alwar district.
Police sources said the students were taken into custody before a proposed protest at RR College, news agency PTI reported.
The protesters had planned to raise the issue of the lathi-charge on students at Jantar Mantar in Delhi during the Cockroach Janta Party protest in July. Other issues on their list were the poor condition of roads, the alleged Matsya scam (corruption in the fisheries department) and the demand for restoration of student union elections in Rajasthan, the sources further told PTI.
The Alwar detentions come against the backdrop of a wider pattern of preventive detentions ahead of Shah's public engagements in recent weeks, as well as a sustained Opposition demand for the home minister's resignation over the police action against student protesters in the national capital in July.
Pattern of detentions
In Pune on August 1, several office-bearers of the Maharashtra Youth Congress and Pune City Congress were taken into custody shortly after midnight ahead of Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's visit to the city. The Youth Congress alleged its leaders were held for nearly 16 hours and that police seized their mobile phones during the detention.
Separately in Pune the same day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant More was detained after announcing he would stage a protest during Shah's visit. Police said the detention was preventive and not linked to any criminal case, and was carried out to avoid disruption to the visit and an award ceremony for Doval.
The July 20 police action cited by the Alwar protesters relates to the student-led protest movement at Jantar Mantar over the NEET-UG paper leak, which had drawn activists under banners including the All India Students Association and the Cockroach Janta Party.
Those protests led to the resignation of senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhanas education minister in PM Narendra Modi's government.
Student groups have since alleged that detentions of activists have continued despite assurances from the government that no punitive action would follow the protests' conclusion.
