An Indian court ordered the release of three leaders of the youth-led online “cockroach” movement on Sunday 11 October, a day after they were detained ahead of a planned protest in New Delhi, according to France 24, which drew on AFP. The protest was directed at the head of the Election Commission of India over alleged irregularities in a nationwide revision of voter rolls.
Detentions and Release
France 24 reported that Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), and two other leaders were detained before they could disembark from a flight that brought them to the capital from Mumbai. The party’s head lawyer, Ratna Singh, said on social media that an executive magistrate’s court had released them on condition that they commit no breach of the peace for one year. Activist and social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, who had been detained at home, was also released, the report said.
According to the CJP and Indian media reports cited by France 24, authorities detained thousands of people on Saturday to stop protesters gathering at Jantar Mantar, a protest site in the capital. Police have not commented on the detentions, France 24 said. It added that on Sunday there were no signs of a major gathering at the site, and that the Supreme Court was due to hear a petition in a special sitting over the closure of Delhi metro stations and train services on Saturday.
The Dispute Over the Voter Rolls
Election authorities say the revision was meant to remove duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries, France 24 reported. According to media reports it cited, more than 133 million names were removed from electoral lists. Critics say the process disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims, and could benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party; the election commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.
France 24 said the CJP was launched by Dipke in May as a satirical movement and has won millions of social media followers, and that its protests over exam irregularities in July forced the resignation of the education minister. After his release, Dipke criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post. The UN human rights office in Geneva called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those it described as arbitrarily detained in Delhi, and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said his Congress party and young people would take to the streets again on Monday.
Why It Matters
The episode puts two questions side by side: how the electoral roll was revised, which the commission defends and critics contest, and how authorities handle peaceful protest about it. Both remain disputed, and the sources reviewed do not report any official response from the government to the criticism. What happens at Monday’s planned demonstrations will show whether the movement’s momentum continues.
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