An AIMIM protest in Ahmedabad against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ended with the detention of city president Ejazkhan Pathan and several other leaders and workers after police said the demonstration did not have permission, according to a report by Divya Bhaskar – Ahmedabad.
The protest was held in the Astodia area over allegations related to “vote theft”, deletion of voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and irregularities in Form 6 applications used for adding names to electoral rolls. AIMIM leaders and workers raised slogans against Kumar and demanded his resignation.
The demonstration was led by AIMIM Gujarat president Sabir Kabliwala. The report identified Pathan, Irshad Qureshi, Raziya Sayed, Aksha Pathan, Aslam Sheikh, Tauhid Sheikh, Wali Mohammad Sama, advocate Anish Sheikh, Azmina Sheikh, Sohil Qureshi, Kavish Qureshi, advocate Shefulla Gohil and Sheikh Shoheb among those detained. The report also said that a large number of party workers were taken into custody.
Pathan alleged that citizens have a constitutional right to hold peaceful protests, but that police detained party workers during the demonstration. He further alleged that the government was using the police and administration to suppress public voices. These claims were made by the AIMIM city president and were not independently established in the report.
AIMIM also alleged that voters’ rights were being affected and claimed that actions linked to the electoral process could particularly affect Muslim voters. The party has demanded Kumar’s resignation and the withdrawal of changes it says have been made to election-related laws. The report did not include a response from the Election Commission, the Gujarat government or the police to these allegations or to the detentions.
The incident places the management of political assemblies and electoral administration at the centre of a city-level governance dispute. Police action over permission for public demonstrations can affect how political parties and citizens exercise their right to assemble, while disputes over voter-list revision can directly influence residents’ ability to participate in elections. The report, however, did not specify the number of people detained, whether formal cases were registered, or how long those detained remained in custody.
AIMIM said it would continue its protest until the chief election commissioner resigns and the alleged changes to election laws are withdrawn. The party also warned that it could intensify its agitation through what it described as Gandhian methods if required. Further details on police action, legal proceedings or any official response were not available in the supplied report.
