India’s Cockroach movement launches new protests over changes to voter roll
Here's the latest protest news from across India:
Prefer the Guardian on Google India’s youth-led Cockroach movement kicked off more nationwide protests on Friday as thousands of people gathered in Mumbai, amid mounting concerns that millions of citizens are being unfairly stripped of their vote.
Adding to this, The movement, which calls itself the Cockroach Janta party (CJP) and has massive support among the country’s gen Zs, returned to the streets to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
Meanwhile, Kumar has become a highly contentious figure after a report in the Indian Express newspaper alleged irregularities and internal concerns about a process to revise and “purify” India’s electoral register, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Notably, SIR, which was overseen by Kumar, has resulted in tens of millions of people being deleted from the electoral register. Large numbers are challenging their removal.
As per the latest buzz, View image in fullscreen Abhijeet Dipke addresses supporters in Mumbai on Friday. Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images Opposition politicians and civil society groups have alleged SIR is part of a widespread manipulation of India’s electoral system to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).
In further updates, Read more The CJP began as online satire but grew into a powerful manifestation of youth power and an unexpected challenge to the Narendra Modi government. There were protests for weeks in the heart of Delhi and the education minister was eventually pressured into resigning in July . In the aftermath, the group declared it would remain active as a “pressure group” to hold the government to account on issues of education and democracy.
On top of that, View image in fullscreen Supporters of the All India Students Association demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar at a protest in Bengaluru. Photograph: Idrees Mohammed/AFP/Getty Images Last week, after the revelations about the election commission, the CJP’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, opened up that if Kumar did not resign over the row, the “Cockroaches” would resume their agitation until he stepped down. Dipke shared the Mumbai protest would kick off a nationwide movement, with more protests planned in Delhi, Goa, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
The authorities denied permission for the group to hold their protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji park but Dipke had vowed to go ahead regardless. “We are fighting against those in power,” he shared at a press conference. “We all remember Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the Britishers. Did the British ever permit him to agitate?”
Source: The Guardian