NEW DELHI — Thousands of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists, popularly known as Cockroaches, and several political leaders who had gathered at Jantar Mantar early Monday morning for the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march were dispersed after Delhi Police resorted to a lathi charge to contain the crowd.
Visuals from the scene that have gone viral on social media showed thousands of students and young protesters carrying flags and raising slogans. Many protesters were seen attempting to breach the barricades, after which police personnel repeatedly pushed them back to maintain order.
Protesters were baton-charged and several were detained near Parliament Street as police moved to stop the march towards the Parliament complex, according to news agency PTI.
Security personnel intervened as hundreds of demonstrators moved ahead, causing traffic disruptions. Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed to maintain order and manage the situation.
Security forces used tear gas shells to disperse thousands of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters who were denied permission to march to the Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, an NDTV report said.
Delhi Police, however, dismissed any claim of violence amid social media reports of confrontation between marchers and police.
Meanwhile, the CJP urged all its supporters to remain calm.
“The police are making it hard for some of you with many metro stations closed. Even if you’ve been stopped at certain points, remain calm and maintain peace. We will only win this with peace and love,” it said.
CJP protesters reached near the Reserve Bank of India near Parliament and raised slogans as security forces maintained a tight vigil in the area, PTI reported.
As CJP activists continued their attempt to march towards Parliament, the nascent group’s chief spokesperson, Saurav Das, was taken to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Asked about the development, Das told ANI, “We are in talks (with the government).”
Sonma Wangchuk, who has been observing an indefinite hunger strike, is currently admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi after being shifted from the protest site. He has approached the director of the hospital, seeking permission to leave the hospital in order to join the “Sansad Chalo March”.
In his letter, Wangchuk said, “This is to state that I am feeling very fine today and my health parameters are also showing as quite normal. Hence, I request you to kindly allow me to leave the hospital, even if temporarily, so that I can join the march to the Parliament – Sansad Chalo – this morning.”
Wangchuk had shared a handwritten note from what he described as his “illegal detention” at the hospital. Still on hunger strike despite being removed from Jantar Mantar, he urged his supporters to make the protest march to Parliament a “big success”.
https://x.com/Wangchuk66/status/2078688447859159521
In his note, he described the protest as “India’s 2nd freedom movement”, calling for “freedom from injustice (like paper leaks)” and “freedom from fear (my illegal detention).”
