Jantar Mantar protests: Police detain Fraternity Movement leaders
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New Delhi: Delhi Police has intensified its crackdown on student and youth leaders ahead of a protest scheduled for Saturday, October 10, at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Fraternity Movement accused the authorities of brutally suppressing democratic dissent, alleging that the national capital was witnessing conditions resembling an undeclared Emergency.
Fraternity Movement national general secretary Mohammed Alfauz Azmi and central committee member Asif Iqbal Tanha were taken into police custody as part of what police described as preventive action. The organisation condemned the detentions as an attempt to silence opposition to the Election Commission’s alleged anti-democratic actions.
The police action reportedly extended to the residences of other organisational leaders. A police team arrived early in the morning at the residence of Fraternity Movement national general secretary Lubaib Basheer and attempted to take him into custody. The organisation’s leaders also said that national president Ramees EK had received a phone call from the police directing him to appear at a police station.
Student leaders alleged that police were attempting to seal off all routes leading to Jantar Mantar to prevent demonstrators from reaching the protest venue. The reported detentions, police visits and restrictions on access have intensified concerns over efforts to obstruct the planned demonstration before it begins.
Fraternity Movement Kerala president Nayeem Gafoor accused the authorities of pushing the capital towards an undeclared state of emergency through measures targeting student and youth activists.
Despite the police action, the organisation declared that the October 10 protest would proceed. It vowed to mobilise against what it described as the Election Commission’s anti-democratic conduct and said the crackdown would not deter its campaign demanding accountability from the poll body and Kumar’s resignation.