Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Delhi’s Connaught Place and adjoining areas on Tuesday evening, a day after security personnel used force to disperse the Cockroach Janta Party’s march to Parliament.
A police vehicle carrying tear gas shells arrived near the protest site, while some protesters threw water bottles at it.
As demonstrators spilled into Connaught Place, the police announced that Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Saurav Das had “called off the protest”.
Earlier in the day, Das had said that he and other Cockroach Janta Party leaders would stage a sit-in outside the Delhi Police headquarters, alleging that those detained were not being allowed to meet their lawyers. He also alleged that the Cockroach Janta Party had not been provided a complete list of detainees.
However, in the evening, Das said that all the detainees had been released, following which the planned protest outside the Delhi Police headquarters was called off.
Cockroach Janta Party Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka clarified that the campaign’s protest at Jantar Mantar would continue.
The Delhi Police had cleared the Jantar Mantar protest site on Monday and dismantled the stage from which organisers had been addressing the crowd. Protesters resumed their sit-in there on Monday night.
Here’s more on this and other updates:
Opposition leaders detained
- Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were detained by the Delhi Police during a protest outside the prime minister’s house on Tuesday evening. Leaders from the party had arrived at the prime minister’s residence in the afternoon. By evening, the Delhi Police moved in to disperse the protest.
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The Congress released a video of police personnel pinning down Rahul Gandhi during the protest. “Look at Modi’s dictatorship,” it said in a social media post. “This is the treatment being meted out to the leader of Opposition of the country.”
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Vadra was mistreated and forced inside a police bus, Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed in a video.
- The Congress said that Gandhi had been detained at Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi, while Vadra had been taken to the Mandir Marg Police Station. Party leader Sonia Gandhi was later seen entering the Mandir Marg Police Station where other MPs were also detained, according to visuals posted by ANI.
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Earlier in the day, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh visited the protest site and spoke to the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, ANI reported. Singh later said that Gandhi had initially demanded a discussion in Parliament on issues related to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and the associated protests, and that the government had agreed to it “within a few moments”. However, he alleged that Gandhi later added the demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
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“For a senior leader like Rahul Gandhi to go back on his word is unfortunate and contrary to every norm of democracy,” Singh said. The Opposition had earlier demanded a discussion in Parliament on the police’s lathi-charge on protesters during the Cockroach Janta Party's demonstration in Delhi on Monday.
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The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were being repeatedly adjourned on Tuesday amid ruckus as Opposition MPs raised the lathi-charge on the protesters.
Protesters, police personnel injured
- Das, a spokesperson of the campaign, shared videos of two persons on social media who were injured allegedly in the police action against protesters on Monday. “Alarming goondaism by the Delhi Police!” wrote Das. “They have used pellet guns against peaceful protesters!”
- The Delhi Police on Tuesday released a statement refuting the claims about the use of pellet guns. “The public is strongly advised not to share or circulate unverified content,” it said. “Appropriate legal action will be taken against individuals found spreading rumours or misinformation.”
- On Tuesday, the Cockroach Janta Party alleged that the police had on Monday slapped a boy, who the campaign claimed was a 10-year-old.
- The alleged action came during the campaign’s march to Parliament on Monday, coinciding with the start of the Monsoon Session. While police had stopped the protest leaders from proceeding, some demonstrators moved closer to Parliament and gathered at other locations in central Delhi. Security personnel fired tear gas shells at the protesters and lathi-charged them, Scroll reported.
- The police stated that 60 protesters were injured during the day. One of the injured protesters is in a critical condition, said Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke. “Why did the government unleash such brutal force against the youth?” he asked on social media.
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The police claimed that 118 security personnel had been injured after the “protesters displayed unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour”. It alleged that the protesters attacked them with stones and vandalised government vehicles.
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Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, apologised to the political campaign’s supporters saying that the organisers of the protest “could have done better” to protect them from the “inhumane actions” of the police. He alleged that female protesters were “brutally beaten” by male police officers. “To protect one Dharmendra Pradhan, who is responsible for the deaths of more than 20 students, the government was willing to spill the blood of many more young students,” Dipke said on social media.
Protesters detained
- About 70 protesters have been detained, the police had said earlier, adding that a first information report was registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to rioting, assault on public servants, damage to public property and “other offences committed during the protest”.
- It did not clarify which other offences the protesters had allegedly committed.
Watch: Young protesters in Delhi face police lathi-charge and tear gas
Protest resumes at Jantar Mantar
- The campaign resumed the protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday evening, stating that the demonstration would not end until Pradhan resigns from his post.
Opposition MP begins sit-in at Parliament
- Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram chief and MP Chandra Shekhar Azad began a sit-in protest inside the Parliament complex against the “brutal treatment meted out” to the protesters.
- “In a democracy, every citizen has the constitutional right to express their views peacefully,” he said. “If that right is met with the use of force, it is not merely an assault on a few individuals, but on democratic values themselves.” He added that he was starting his demonstration with a “resolve to safeguard democratic values”.
Written by Sneha, Neerad Pandharipande and Sara Varghese. Inputs by Priyali Dhingra and Raghav Kakkar. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar and Tanya Shrivastava.
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