Indian youth leaders freed as election protests continue

Leaders of an Indian youth movement were released Sunday after police detained them ahead of protests over voter lists, but they vowed to continue demonstrations demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief.

Police boarded a flight from Mumbai after it landed in New Delhi on Saturday and detained Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, leaders of the Cockroach youth movement. They were preparing to lead a protest against a revision of voter lists that demonstrators say disproportionately benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party.

The three were freed on condition that they commit “no breach of peace for one year,” the movement’s legal director, Ratna Singh, said in a social media post, according to CBS News. It was unclear what the condition meant or whether it would limit their participation in protests.

Protesters are calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Al Jazeera reported that millions of voters, including Muslims, have been deleted from the rolls amid technical errors and concerns about transparency. The protests spread across several cities after an Indian Express investigation found that two other election commissioners had objected to many of Kumar’s decisions, according to Al Jazeera.

Authorities mounted a large security operation in New Delhi on Saturday. Train services were canceled, metro stations closed and mobile internet suspended in parts of the capital. Al Jazeera reported that police sealed off Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site near Parliament, and set up checkpoints and barricades across the city.

CBS News reported that more than 2,000 protesters were detained in the capital, including opposition lawmakers. Al Jazeera said thousands were detained and reported that about 600 people were arrested in Mumbai, citing the ANI news agency. Police said the detainees had been released by Sunday, according to Al Jazeera; CBS News said police reported most were released late Saturday.

Al Jazeera also reported that YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, student leader Neha Bora and journalists covering the demonstrations were among those detained. The journalists were later released, though news outlet Newslaundry said some of its reporters’ equipment had been seized. The Committee to Protect Journalists told Al Jazeera it was deeply concerned by reports of the temporary detentions.

Dipke, after his release, called Modi “an embarrassment to India” in a post on X. “Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully,” he wrote. Das said the movement would not be silenced and would return to protest.

The movement announced further demonstrations, including one in Mumbai on Sunday evening, Al Jazeera reported. Bora began a protest in central Delhi on Sunday but was detained again shortly afterward, according to Al Jazeera. The opposition INDIA alliance, which has joined the youth-led protests in demanding Kumar’s resignation, was expected to hold a demonstration in the capital on Monday.