Young protesters returned to Connaught Place on Sunday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, after travel restrictions and mass detentions disrupted a planned demonstration in Central Delhi on Saturday, according to a report by the Indian Express.
The protesters gathered with placards in and around Palika Kendra after restrictions on Delhi Metro services were eased. Central Delhi remained heavily secured, with large numbers of Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel deployed around Connaught Place.
The protest was linked to the July Cockroach Janta Party demonstrations. Several young people who had been unable to reach Jantar Mantar on Saturday attempted to enter Central Delhi on Sunday instead. Jantar Mantar had been announced as the proposed site of the protest.
On Saturday, 45 metro stations across Delhi were closed. The report said cab cancellations, steep auto-rickshaw fares and barricading around Central Delhi made it difficult for protesters to reach the area. The transport restrictions added a citywide mobility dimension to a demonstration that was otherwise concentrated around a central protest zone.
A first-year student of Shri Ram College of Commerce, who had travelled from Rajasthan, said she had wanted to attend the protest on Saturday but was afraid of the police. On Sunday, she stood behind a barricade near police personnel holding a handmade poster and said students had the right to ask questions.
Other protesters described avoiding Rajiv Chowk after seeing security personnel questioning students. Honey, a 21-year-old St Stephen’s College student preparing for the Union Public Service Commission examinations, told the Indian Express that he travelled by Metro from Vishwavidyalaya to Central Secretariat before walking towards Connaught Place. He said police personnel questioned him repeatedly about where he was going.
His friend Khushi, a 23-year-old recent graduate of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, said she had decided to attend the protest despite the detentions on Saturday to seek accountability. Two 18-year-old first-time protesters also returned to the area, saying they remained afraid but wanted to raise questions about voting rights and accountability.
The account shows how security measures around a high-profile protest can affect ordinary movement through one of Delhi’s busiest central districts. Restrictions on stations, road access and pedestrian movement altered the routes used by students and other residents trying to reach the area. The report did not provide details of the legal orders or administrative instructions under which the metro closures, barricading and detentions were carried out.
By Sunday, metro restrictions had been relaxed, but the security presence around Connaught Place continued. Protesters remained separated from police personnel by barricades as they sought to reach the protest area and press their demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.
