Senior advocate and leading civil rights activist Prashant Bhushan has launched a fiery rallying call for the people of the country, calling for all streets and neighbourhoods in the country to be a venue for democratic action after police toughened security at the traditional protest venue in New Delhi. While responding to the journalists and supporters, Bhushan addressed them directly and said, “They have taken our Jantar Mantar away from us, and now it is our time to take the entire country out on a street protest, people, against SIR by the Election Commission of India (ECI). His caustic comments come after a series of police raids, barricades and anti-national/preventive detentions of civil society activists, student organisations and opposition leaders at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, who were protesting against the inaction of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over their demands. The campaign, led by citizen organisations such as Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and student groups, focuses on the serious claims of millions of eligible citizens being removed from electoral registers as part of the SIR revision drive. Activists have said that the government and authorities are systematically banning peaceful assembly in the national capital by limiting access to iconic spots for agitation such as Jantar Mantar and Connaught Place. But faced at such a time by these escalating restrictions, said that peaceful public dissent must not be limited to any one part of the country, in New Delhi, when constitutional rights and democratic integrity are involved. He appealed to the citizens to celebrate a nationwide “Save Democracy Day” and mobilise protests, marches and public gatherings in their communities and student centres around the country. The activist-lawyer pointed out that if the constitutional means of peaceful grievance redressal are being constrained by the power of the state, the democratic spirit should be diffused and decentralised throughout the country. Bhushan’s demands for decentralised mobilisation on the street have been further ratcheting up the intense political rift between civil rights activists and the government. Government leaders and the ruling party have blamed the demand for mass street protesting as “deliberate provocation to create public disturbance and destabilise constitutional institutions” while protest organisers have argued that the assertion of the right to challenge electoral discrepancies or to demand institutional transparency is a basic right of every South African citizen. The anti-SIR movement, which has been so far primarily centered in the barricaded streets of Central Delhi, is at a significant juncture, with a cry for the people of the country, and the fight for electoral integrity has now moved to the municipal streets, university campuses and public spaces of India.
Fiery Rallying Calls for Nationwide Street Protests Against ECI Over SIR Argument
