India’s ‘Cockroach’ leaders detained; New Delhi in lockdown

Police successful India’s superior New Delhi person detained much than 1,000 protesters, absorption politicians, journalists, pupil national leaders, lawyers and the founders of the “Cockroach” younker question successful an effort to quash their objection demanding the resignation of the predetermination chief.

The satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and different younker groups had announced a protestation successful the subcontinent’s superior for Saturday, aimed astatine Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar implicit a revision of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

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The protesters impeach the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of utilizing the SIR to sway predetermination results, ‌in collusion with its appointees successful the predetermination commission, including Kumar.

Meanwhile, absorption parties accidental the elector deletions besides affected the result of immoderate caller authorities elections won by the BJP, and person formed a shadiness connected elections successful the world’s largest democracy.

The CJP had planned to stitchery thousands of radical astatine Jantar Mantar, a designated protestation tract successful cardinal Delhi.

But connected Saturday, the country was sealed disconnected by information forces earlier the objection began.

The subcontinent’s superior was besides successful lockdown with thousands of constabulary and paramilitary unit deployed crossed the city, trains to New Delhi cancelled, mobile net services suspended and metro stations and markets shut, successful an effort to halt the protests.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has dismissed the demonstrators arsenic “anarchic elements”.

“Their flop amusement has been wholly demolished,” Patra said. “What is happening astatine Jantar Mantar, what you tin spot connected TV and a fewer societal media handles, is not India’s story. India is calm and going up nether bully governance,” helium told reporters.

Police detained the laminitis of ⁠the CJP Abhijeet Dipke and his associates Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka successful an aeroplane upon accomplishment to New Delhi from Mumbai.

Dipke shared a video connected his Instagram channel, showing a squad of constabulary officers entering the Air India level aft it landed. As they came closer, helium said: “I person travel to get arrested. I americium not acrophobic of you guys.”

In different video shared by Ranka, Dipke was seen addressing the different passengers connected the flight.

“It was bully to cognize you all. We tin spot wherever the federation is heading,” helium said. “This is dictatorship wherever Delhi constabulary has entered successful the formation and trying to apprehension us.”

Delhi constabulary besides detained different CJP members, YouTuber and Modi critic Dhruv Rathee, Neha Bora, the nationalist president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), a leftist radical affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Dipankar Bhattacharya, the wide caput of the party,  Prashant Bhushan, a elder lawyer astatine the Supreme Court, politicians Yogendra Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, among others.

Police unit detain a protagonist of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) during a protestation demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, successful New Delhi connected October 10, 2026. [AFP]

Despite the detentions of the founders of the younker movement, tiny protests took spot elsewhere successful the city, including astatine the fashionable crafts marketplace “Dilli Haat”.

But journalists trying to screen these protests and radical attempting to protestation anyplace successful the superior were besides detained and whisked distant successful constabulary buses.

Shranaya, a authorities committee subordinate of the left-wing Students’ Federation of India (SFI), who goes by her archetypal name, told Al Jazeera that their bureau successful New Delhi had been nether surveillance for hours, but members wrong had managed to flight and protest.

“This is dictatorship unrecorded and successful beforehand of us, conscionable to support a bureaucrat who steals elections for the BJP connected Modi’s behest. They are murdering ideology successful the daylight successful the Indian capital,” she said.

“This authorities is unaware of the powerfulness of the people, and that is our precocious hand. We bash not person weapons, but we person zeal. We volition beryllium again connected the streets, and we volition support returning,” she added. “We are students. We are unemployed. We are ‘cockroaches’ – and we volition return.”

She past climbed a barricade but was dragged distant by constabulary and taken distant successful a bus.

The absorption Congress party’s president, Mallikarjun Kharge slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities aft the detentions.

“Modi authorities has turned the ‘Mother of Democracy’ into a ‘Muzzled Democracy’!” helium posted connected X. “Detentions, arrests, jails, lathis [batons] and pellets cannot deter the radical of India. Since the days of our state struggle, the younker person been astatine the forefront of shaping the nation’s destiny,” helium added.

Global condemnation

Global quality rights radical Amnesty International warned that the detentions awesome the Indian government’s hopeless attempts to “supress captious voices”.

“The authorities indispensable instantly and unconditionally merchandise each those who person been detained solely for exercising their close to Freedom of Expression and Right to peaceful assembly,” Aakar Patel, seat of committee of Amnesty International India, told Al Jazeera.

The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Indian constabulary to “respect journalists”.

“We telephone connected the Delhi Police to instantly merchandise each detained journalists and media workers and let the property to screen the ongoing protests successful Delhi and the constabulary effect without interference,” Kunal Majumder, CPJ’s Asia Pacific programme coordinator, told Al Jazeera.

The demonstrations correspond 1 of the astir superior tests yet for Modi, stemming from allegations that predetermination authorities improperly revised elector rolls up of caller authorities polls.

The unrest besides came up of a bid of important authorities elections opening successful aboriginal 2027.

Sanjay Kapoor, exertion of Hard News Magazine and a governmental analyst, told Al Jazeera that it is “very strange” to spot Modi’s authorities “so panic driven and fearful of what the protesters mightiness do”.

“The information is that the BJP and the centre person been very, precise frightened of however it volition each play out,” helium said.

Kapoor noted that astir of the radical coming to the protests bash not privation Modi’s BJP to proceed to govern.

“Modi’s authorities has begun to suffer a batch of credibility astatine the moment,” helium said. “BJP is acrophobic that the crushed has shifted dramatically against them and they would find it precise hard to travel backmost to power,” helium added.

Security unit detain a protestor successful New Delhi, India, October 10, 2026. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]