Photo: Collected
Abhijit Deepak, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), was detained from his home in Delhi, India, on Friday (16 October), a few minutes before the start of the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ (Fly the national flag) march.
NDTV reported that this is the second time Deepak has been detained within a week. Earlier, he had been detained immediately after arriving in Delhi from Mumbai to protest against India’s chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging manipulation in the special intensive revision (SIR) process of the voter list.
One of the reasons for organising this march was the arrest of two CJP members, Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. On 13 October they had entered Jantar Mantar in Delhi carrying the national flag; a day earlier, permission to use the historic site as a protest venue had been withdrawn. They were later arrested and sent to five days’ judicial custody.
The initiative to organise ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ was taken centring on the protest against this incident and the programme of a march with the national flag.
Before the march, Delhi police went to Abhijit Deepak’s home and served a notice on him about not holding the programme. He was then detained.
The notice, issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), said prohibitory orders were in force around Connaught Place, an important commercial area of Delhi. Besides, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had not given permission for the proposed ‘Tiranga Yatra’. In this situation, if the Cockroach Janata Party went ahead with the march, it would be considered a violation of the law.
The notice also said that flying the national flag is not against the law; but holding a march without permission and causing a public gathering would be a violation of the prohibitory order, and the police would take legal steps against such activities. The 31-year-old leader was also informed about the restrictions of the ‘Flag Code’ on showing due respect to the national flag.
Deepak, wearing a white T-shirt printed with a picture of Gandhi and jeans, had a small national flag on his shoulder. Sitting on a yellowish sofa in his own living room and examining the papers of the notice served by the police, he asked a member of the police, ‘Kya aarop laga diya hai aapne mere upar?’ — that is, ‘What charge have you brought against me?’
After this police action over the programme of a march with the national flag, fresh discussion has arisen in Delhi about the freedom to hold protest programmes and the restrictions imposed on public assembly.
