India detains 'Cockroach' leaders in pre-protest crackdown — SkimNews
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- Indian authorities deployed a sweeping crackdown across New Delhi, detaining thousands of protesters and barricading Jantar Mantar with anti-riot vehicles and tear gas launchers ahead of the planned 'Cockroach' movement demonstration.
- 'Cockroach' movement leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Delhi airport after arriving from Mumbai, with a movement video showing police boarding the aircraft; some protesters still broke through cordons chanting against Modi.
- India's Election Commission faces demands for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over its Special Intensive Revision, which the opposition says has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists to benefit Modi's BJP, allegations the commission rejects.
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and opposition lawmaker John Brittas were briefly detained by police in recent days, with Brittas calling the response 'a total siege over the city' after being taken into custody.
- The 'Cockroach' movement, which began online in May, previously forced Modi's education minister to resign in July through protests over exam paper leaks and now seeks to broaden its campaign against the Hindu nationalist government.
- BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra dismissed demonstrators as 'anarchic elements' whose 'flop show has been completely demolished,' while police cited a late protest permit application to justify the denial.
Why it matters: The scale of the pre-emptive crackdown, including airport detentions and mobile internet restrictions, signals the Modi government's sensitivity to a youth movement that already cost it an education minister in July. With 130 million names purged from voter rolls and BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat heading to the polls next year, the voter list dispute has become a concrete rallying point for opposition parties seeking to erode the BJP's political standing.
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