Activist Sonam Wangchuk has warned that he could consider a peaceful protest, hunger strike or march in Delhi or Leh if authorities do not release detained protesters and withdraw the cases against them within 24 hours, according to Live Hindustan. The warning came after the reported detention of student and youth leaders, lawyers, journalists, MPs and opposition leaders during a demonstration in Delhi.
Wangchuk said the deadline given to the government would end on October 11 and that he could make a larger announcement in support of CJP leaders Abhijeet Deepke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. He said the possible forms of protest included a sit-in, fast or padyatra, while also urging the government to resolve the matter through dialogue before further action became necessary.
In comments reported by Live Hindustan, Wangchuk condemned the arrests and said peaceful demonstrations should be permitted in a democracy. He alleged that the scale of the detentions made it appear as if an undeclared emergency was in force across the country. He called for the arrests to end and for the related issues to be resolved by the evening.
The report, citing the Press Trust of India, said more than 7,000 protesters had been detained as the so-called Jantar Mantar 2.0 movement was confined amid heavy police deployment in Delhi. It said CJP founder Abhijeet Deepke, co-convenor Saurav Das and national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Indira Gandhi International Airport after arriving by air.
Four former chief ministers — Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar — were also reported to have been detained while travelling towards Jantar Mantar. The report further named YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and AISA president Neha Bora among those detained at separate locations.
The reported detentions have direct implications for how central Delhi manages demonstrations, public assembly and movement around major transport links. The report said the protest was affected by police barricading and also referred to a Supreme Court hearing concerning an alleged violation of an earlier order related to the operation of metro services and trains on October 10.
CJP said it would continue its protest until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigned. Its national organisational in-charge and protest leader, Ajinkya Shinde, said at a press conference that the organisation would not withdraw despite the police action. The group announced another demonstration at Jantar Mantar for 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear on Sunday a contempt petition filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi. The petition sought contempt proceedings against officials over the allegation that authorities had violated the court’s direction not to completely stop the movement of metros and trains on October 10. The next developments are expected to include the court hearing and Wangchuk’s proposed announcement on the detentions.
