CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke speaks at the Jantar Mantar@Kochi protest on Saturday
Highlighting recent detentions and police action against protesters in Delhi, Dipke condemned the deployment of heavy security forces during past demonstrations on Oct 10. “You can denotify one Jantar Mantar to stop the protest, but then 100 Jantar Mantar venues will come up across the country. We are ready to go to jail another 100 times, but will again come back to better the system in the country and to protect democracy.
Nobody is here for themselves, we are here to save the democracy, to save the constitution of the country,” Dipke said. Dipke was speaking at the protest in Kochi, organized under the banner ‘Jantar Mantar@Kochi‘, demanding cancellation of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Hundreds, including young people, civil rights activists and citizens, participated in the protest and in the rally before that, led by actor and activist Prakash Raj from Marine Drive to Rajendra Maidan. He argued that using law enforcement to block peaceful youth protests reflects political fear rather than strength. CJP‘s protest in Kochi comes amid the decision by authorities to denotify Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as a designated protest site. We are not afraid of you; we will keep protesting against you. He added, “Democracy means for the people, by the people, of the people. Modi defines democracy as choosing who will vote and who will win, but the people will ultimately decide who rules.“ He accused the administration of attempting to control citizens’ choices — from food and marriage to voting rights — alleging that voter lists were being manipulated to disenfranchise opponents.