India's 'Cockroaches' to march again after protest crackdown

Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

Here are the latest developments from India on Friday, October 16:

• The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) slated to hold 'Lehra Do Tiranga' (Wave The Tricolor) rally 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Canada from December 11-12
• Indian Embassy calls on nationals in Saudi Arabia to remain calm and alert amid intensifying Houthi strikes

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Skip next section CJP scheduled to hold 'Tiranga' rally at Delhi's Connaught Place with Indian flag

October 16, 2026

CJP scheduled to hold 'Tiranga' rally at Delhi's Connaught Place with Indian flag

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is set to hold a march on Friday in the Indian capital named "Lehra Do Tiranga," which translates to "wave the tricolor." Tricolor refers to the Indian national flag, which has saffron, white and green bands.

The rally comes in support of two of the movement's leaders — Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das — who were sent to a five-day detention in prison on Wednesday over charges including alleged trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders and breach of a peace bond. 

A video shared by the CJP on Tuesday showed its co-conveners Das and Ranka, along with other activists of the collective, climbing a gate cordoned off with yellow police barricades. 

As they jumped to the other side of the gate, they were seen holding up the Indian flag and shouting slogans against India's election chief. The group is then seen being chased by police officials. 

"Imagine being jailed in your own country for waving your own national flag," CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X on Thursday. 

CJP's Tuesday demonstration attempt took place at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, a day after the site was removed as the official protest venue of the capital. 

It was also the same site where thousands of protesters attempted to march on October 10 to demand electoral reforms before being thwarted by Indian authorities.

Thousands of youth protesters, including CJP and student leaders, were detained after police denied permission to protest. The demonstrators have said that protest is a fundamental right.

The demonstrations are a part of a broader push —  including by opposition parties — for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the purging of tens of millions of names from India's electoral rolls. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5OJNo

Skip next section Welcome to our coverage

October 16, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

This is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW's studio in New Delhi, bringing you our daily digest of all the biggest headlines that have got India talking. 

India's 'Cockroach' party is returning to central Delhi with another march almost a week after a protest rally by the youth-led movement was balked by a rare deployment of thousands of security personnel —  culminating in mass detentions. 

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called on people to gather in large numbers and wave the national flag in Connaught Place in support of its leaders, who were sent to judicial custody for allegedly trespassing at a freshly delisted designated protest site. 

The Delhi Police has reiterated that prohibitory orders are in place at the key district and it could allow only a select group of people to gather at a suitable location for the purpose of carrying the flag. 

In other news, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Canada in December as the two countries look to shore up bilateral relations. 

And India has urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to stay indoors and follow instructions from local authorities amid a spate of deadly aerial attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.