Indian Police Detain Cockroach Janta Party Founder Abhijeet Dipke Ahead Of Delhi Protest

Dipke detained in Delhi

Indian police detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Friday as hundreds of protesters gathered in central Delhi to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi police detained Dipke and student activist Neha Bora as they tried to reach Connaught Place, and Reuters reported that Sachin Sharma said Dipke and Bora had been taken into preventive detention. The protests centered on a revision of voter lists that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Election Commission said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.

+1Dipke detained in Delhi7 of 9 outlets reported it · not in Dunyā al-Waṭan and 1 more▾

Dipke called the Friday rally to support two CJP leaders detained and sent to jail for five days for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban, and the BBC said the group was waving Indian flags and shouting slogans despite a heavy security presence. The BBC said police sealed off Central Park, the planned site of the protest, and deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel to prevent the gathering.

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Quotes and competing claims

Dipke told supporters that “If waving the Indian national flag lands you in jail, we are ready,” and the BBC said he was detained after he refused to call off the protest.

The CJP posted on X that “This government is so scared of the youth waving national flag,” and Reuters said Dipke was seen holding a national flag as he was taken away.

Sanna, a 23-year-old protester, said, “We are here only to peacefully hold up the Indian flag, and they treat us like criminals, not citizens exercising our democratic rights,” as she described the crackdown.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said the BJP claimed the Cockroach movement and the political opposition alliance were holding protests to cause “anarchy” in the country.

The BBC said CJP spokesperson Mehr Pasricha argued, “They may detain three people, but how will they stop 30 tomorrow? How will they stop 300 leaders?”

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US lawmakers urge Rubio

Six US lawmakers urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise concerns about rights to freedom of assembly and expression during his talks with Indian officials as Delhi authorities clamped down on protests. Pramila Jayapal wrote on X that “As the world’s largest democracies, the US and India have an obligation to promote and defend the rights to freedom of assembly and expression,” and the letter urged Rubio to prioritize those freedoms and human rights. The lawmakers said the letter raised concerns about “a pattern of repression, wrongful detention, and excessive use of force by security forces during student protests in Delhi and other localities across India,” and they cited the CJP protests and the ongoing demonstrations seeking the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.

India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, rejected the lawmakers’ concerns and termed them “unacceptable interference in India's internal affairs”. The lawmakers also urged Rubio to press for “thorough, transparent, and independent investigations of alleged human rights violations connected to the law enforcement response to protests,” and they asked him to encourage the release of individuals detained for peacefully exercising rights.

Reporting for this sectionThe South First