Shashi Tharoor slams Delhi crackdown on CJP protest, calls it an ‘undeclared Emer-GenZ’

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised tight security in Delhi ahead of a CJP protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing barricades, closed metro stations, internet restrictions and detentions. 

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday criticised the security restrictions imposed across Delhi amid the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. He described the arrangement in the national capital as as unprecedented and likening it to an “undeclared Emer-GenZ”.

In a strongly worded statement, Tharoor flagged checkpoints every few hundred metres, concrete barriers and spike strips laid across our roads, a war-like deployment of 22,000 police and paramilitary across the city, 250 trains cancelled and 45 metro stations closed, and reports of young people being detained from their own homes and the streets in and around Delhi.

Tharoor particularly criticised the suspension of internet services in parts of the national capital, calling it one of the most regressive and repressive measures.

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The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) organised the protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Protesters raised allegations of voter-list irregularities and called for Kumar’s resignation.

Delhi Police cited law-and-order concerns, public safety, traffic management and the need to protect local residents. It also said Jantar Mantar has limited capacity and denied permission for the planned demonstration.

Tharoor described the restrictions as an “undeclared Emer-GenZ” and criticised the barricades, security deployment, transport disruptions and internet curbs. He said those detained should be released and urged the government to answer protesters’ concerns.

Yes. The reports said several demonstrators were detained, including CJP activists Abhijeet Dipke and others. CJP also said content creator Dhruv Rathee had been detained.

Restrictions included closures at many metro stations, train cancellations, traffic checks and limits on movement around Jantar Mantar. Internet services were also restricted in parts of the area.

“Freedom of movement stands completely shackled,” he said, questioning why authorities had restricted access to Jantar Mantar, a designated site for citizens to express dissent.

He also questioned whether the government would impose similar restrictions if protesters returned on Monday, and called for those detained to be released.

“A government confident in the fairness of its elections would welcome questions about them, whereas one that turns its capital into a fortress to avoid them only deepens the very suspicions it seeks to suppress,” Tharoor said.

He urged the government to provide answers to protesters’ concerns rather than resort to force, adding that barricades would not restore public faith in the Election Commission.

CJP protest: Activists detained amid heightened security

The criticism came as security was tightened across Delhi ahead of the CJP-led protest against the Election Commission.

Earlier in the day, CJP activist Abhijeet Dipke, who was travelling from Mumbai to Delhi to participate in the demonstration, claimed in an Instagram video that police were detaining him and his associates as they disembarked from their flight at Delhi airport.

The organisation also claimed that content creator Dhruv Rathee had been detained, posting that the government was “TERRIFIED of young people who question its wrongdoings and refuse to stay silent.”

Police said the New Delhi district had been divided into 20 operational zones, with dedicated detention centres established for each zone as part of the security arrangements.

Several demonstrators were detained after gathering at Jantar Mantar and Sansad Marg, amid extensive barricading and heightened security at entry points to the national capital.

According to the details provided, 46 metro stations remained closed as security personnel were deployed at multiple locations across the city.