India’s ‘Cockroach’ protest movement leaders freed from detention, vow to continue demonstrations

Leaders of a prominent Indian youth movement were released from detention on Sunday, just a day after police forcibly dispersed protests against a controversial revision of voter lists. The demonstrators are advocating for the resignation of India's election chief. The unrest began following the removal of over 130 million voters from the list since last year, with critics alleging the action is politically motivated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission have rejected these allegations. The three leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party — Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka — were freed under the condition that they do not engage in any "breach of peace" for a year. It remains unclear if this restriction could impact their involvement in future protests.

Authorities boarded the leaders' flight from Mumbai as it landed in New Delhi on Saturday and took them into custody as they headed towards a planned demonstration. Following their release, Dipke referred to Modi as "an embarrassment to India," stating, "Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully." Das, a spokesman for the movement, urged supporters to take to the streets, declaring, "A situation has been created where the state is at war with its own citizens."

Following the protests on Saturday, authorities launched a broad security crackdown in the capital, arresting more than 2,000 protesters, including several opposition politicians. Train services to the capital were halted, metro stations were closed, and mobile internet was suspended in parts of the city. Most of those detained were released late on Saturday.