After crackdown, Delhi eases curbs, over 500 detained in ‘flash protests’

Around 30,000 police personnel, supported by 200 companies of paramilitary forces, remained deployed across the Capital. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

A day after Delhi Police and Central forces launched a large-scale crackdown on the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, restrictions in the Capital were slightly eased Sunday, with metro services resuming and internet restrictions lifted.

However, groups of five or more people continued to face detention in central Delhi, which remains under prohibitory orders, even as some protesters staged smaller “flash protests” at various locations in the late afternoon.

Around 30,000 police personnel, supported by 200 companies of paramilitary forces, remained deployed across the Capital. Unlike Saturday, police did not check every vehicle within a 10-km radius of Jantar Mantar on Sunday morning. But major roads leading to Parliament Street, including Ashoka Road, Tolstoy Road and Janpath, remained sealed. Entry was restricted to those carrying identity cards.

The number of buses deployed to transport detained protesters was less. At metro stations, commuters travelling from Gurugram to Delhi were seen entering and exiting. However, footfall remained sparse, particularly at stations near Jantar Mantar.

A few people who exited at stations close to the protest venue, including Janpath, Seva Teerth and Patel Chowk, said they were wary of joining the demonstration given the detentions on Saturday. Police checks along MG Road and the Dwarka Expressway were also relatively limited.

CPI(M)’s Rajya Sabha member John Brittas being detained at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

The flash protests, in which small groups gathered quickly across New Delhi district to shout slogans, were mainly organised by Left student groups and political parties. More than 500 people were detained.

Around noon, a group of 50-60 members of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) were detained near Palika Bazaar. Shortly afterwards, CPI(M) MP John Brittas arrived in the same area and was detained while speaking to the media. He later accused Central forces personnel of assaulting him.

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By 1 pm, AISA national president Neha called for a protest near RK Ashram Marg metro station. A heavy deployment of around 200 police, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel was in the area, including a sizeable number of women officers. At around 2.15 pm, SFI protesters took out a march near RK Ashram Marg, with the police taking away more than 50 of them in buses.

Soon afterwards, reports emerged that AISA supporters and Neha had taken out a march in Connaught Place, prompting police personnel to rush across. Neha was subsequently detained near the Panchkuian intersection along with her supporters and taken to a detention centre in a bus. Subsequently, police erected multiple barricades between the Connaught Place inner circle and Panchkuian Road.

At 3.45 pm, a group of 50-60 people led by the DISHA organisation began marching from Gate 1 of Rajiv Chowk metro station, chanting slogans against the CEC and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The march lasted around seven minutes before Delhi Police, Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel detained more than half of them.

Students unaffiliated with political organisations also arrived in central Delhi on Sunday to demand the resignation of CEC Kumar. Although their numbers remained relatively small, the easing of metro restrictions allowed some to reach Connaught Place. Carrying placards, these young protesters made their way despite the heavy security presence.

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One protester, a first-year student at Shri Ram College of Commerce, said she had participated in the July protests, too, coming from her home in Rajasthan against the wishes of her parents.

Standing outside Palika Kendra behind a police barricade, holding a handmade poster reading “Gyanesh, it’s done bro”, she said: “As students, we have the right to ask questions. I wanted to come yesterday too, but I was afraid of the police. Today, I was sure I had to come, even if they were going to detain me.”

A 21-year-old final-year student at St. Stephen’s College, who is “preparing for the UPSC examinations”, said he had been unable to reach central Delhi on Saturday. “Today, I tried getting down at Rajiv Chowk but saw security forces approaching and questioning students. So I got down at Central Secretariat instead. But while walking to Connaught Place, the cops were asking every 10 minutes where I was going. They were restricting our movement,” he said.