UN human rights' body raises concern over mass detentions at Delhi protest, seeks release of detainees

The UN human rights office has raised concerns over mass detentions during largescale protests in Delhi on Saturday as it urged Indian authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly and called for the immediate release of anyone arbitrarily detainedHundreds of protesters were detained as security forces prevented a planned demonstration by the Gen Zled Cockroach Janta Party CJP from reaching Jantar Mantar in central DelhiThe protest was called to demand electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner CEC Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulation of voter lists The Election Commission and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP have denied the allegationsIn a statement on Saturday UN human rights spokesperson Thameen AlKheetan said the office was concerned by reports of mass detentions in India of demonstrators protest leaders members of civil society organisations lawyers and journalists before and during todays largescale demonstrations in DelhiWe call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled it said Restrictions on peaceful protests must meet strict tests of necessity and proportionalityAlKheetan also called on Indian authorities to ensure that law enforcement personnel exercise utmost restraint in responding to peaceful protesters consistent with the countrys democratic traditions and human rights obligationsAll those arbitrarily detained must be immediately and unconditionally released he saidThe UN also urged the authorities to engage in meaningful dialogue to address the broadly held concerns expressedThe CJP had planned to hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar a landmark in central DelhiDelhi Police had refused permission for the protest and heavy security measures and roadblocks prevented most demonstrators from reaching the areaThe CJPs founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained shortly after their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi the group saidDelhi Police have not publicly commented on their detentionsThe CJP and opposition parties have accused CEC Kumar of favouring the BJP in the updating of electoral rolls The Election Commission has said its nationwide revision of voter lists termed Special Intensive Revision SIR is a routine exercise to remove the names of dead duplicate or ineligible votersWhile tens of thousands of people in several states have alleged that their names were wrongly removed from electoral rolls the Election Commission has denied allegations of political interferenceThe CJP is a Gen Zled satirical movement that is not registered as a political party It emerged in May after its founder Dipke posted a question on X in response to Indias chief justice likening some unemployed young people to cockroaches The post went viral and the movement was bornThe group became a major protest movement during weeks of demonstrations over the summer demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan The protests ended in July after Pradhan resignedThe CJP has now returned to the streets demanding electoral reforms and the resignation of CEC KumarThe BJP criticised Saturdays protests accusing opposition groups led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and associates of Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal of trying to destabilise the countryBJP president Nitin Nabin alleged that the groups were pursuing their political agendas at the behest of foreign forcesHe also accused them of refusing to accept the peoples verdict and trying to create instability instead He added that Indian democracy was strong enough to thwart their effortsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever