What started with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s call to unfurl the tricolour – ‘Lehra do Tiranga’ – at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday (October 16) turned into a chaotic day with jostling crowds and two of the leading faces of the ongoing protests  – CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora – being brutally detained by the Delhi Police as they tried to make their way to the central Delhi location.

Despite the continuous crackdowns, the spirit of the protest refused to die down as more protesters, youth activists, political leaders spontaneously turned up with the tricolour, with one main question: is unfurling the Tiranga a crime?

The tally of protesters rose to a few thousands by Friday evening even as the scenes were tense. Protesters managed to march around the Connaught Place area after they were denied entry into the park, climbed on vehicles and unfurled the tricolour in full josh.

Youth organisations including Students’ Federation of India, Democratic Youth Federation of India, All India Students’ Federation, All India Youth Federation and other outfits also marched towards Connaught Place. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas joined them in the march.

Speaking to reporters, he said, “Our decision was to march, sing the national anthem, and disperse peacefully. It’s a peaceful march. We don’t want to create any problem here for anybody. But the police are unnecessarily using force.”

Brittas also wrote on X: “Defying the ban orders in, hundreds of students and youth activists from Leftist organizations have retaken Central Park. It is ours – not anybody’s private property. We sang the national anthem and held the national flag high. We will be here again, come what may.”

Brittas was detained too, along with many other activists who took part in the protest today.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police and security personnel were seen verbally and physically assaulting protesters carrying the national flag, as they forcibly dragged them into detention buses after dark, including women protesters. At least 150 people were reportedly detained through the day.

The Delhi police had already placed extraordinary security arrangements around Jantar Mantar and Connaught Place with around 32,000 security personnel, heavy barricading, anti-riot vehicles and surveillance systems – a sight that is no longer new for the people of Delhi, but it is disquieting.

What has also been unsettling is the many Hindutva protesters showed up near the protest location, raising slogans and heckling other protesters and journalists, seemingly without much intervention from the contingent of Delhi Police deployed there.

The Wire’s special correspondent Mohammad Irfan was among journalists who were heckled while covering the protest today.

Abhijeet Dipke and Neha Bora’s detention

While Dipke was picked up outside his temporary residence in Jhandewalan, Bora was detained in Mandi House, where the AISA had gathered to march towards Jantar Mantar. There was a near stampede-like situation as protesters, camera crews and swarms of security personnel surrounded to detain them at the two locations.

Both of their locations are still unknown.

The CJP, in a post on X, has alleged that the Delhi Police has taken Dipke to an undisclosed location. “We have lost contact with him. He is not being allowed to talk to lawyers,” it said, questioning why the youth was being treated “like terrorists” and demanding answers regarding his location.

Reacting to his detention, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said it was “nothing short of an undeclared Emergency”.

“Abhijeet Dipke has been detained for holding the Indian National Flag. Let that sink in. In Independent India, our youth are being detained for peacefully asserting their democratic rights. This is nothing short of an undeclared Emergency. A government that fears dissent is now trying to intimidate an entire generation into silence. This is the conduct of a fascist regime that cannot tolerate a voice it cannot control. Abhijeet, Ashutosh, Saurav — you represent the courage, conscience and aspirations of India’s youth. You cannot silence an entire generation by suppressing its voice,” she said in a post on X, adding “Your Didi stands firmly with you.”

Notably, the CJP’s Tiranga call was also to stand in solidarity with its co-conveners Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, who were sent to five-day judicial custody on charges of “trespassing” for unfurling the tricolour at Jantar Mantar.

Meanwhile, AISA has called Neha Bora’s detention an “abduction”. They alleged that they were singled out and taken away in a car with “blackened windows” and with “two people in civil dress who are not detainees”. In a from their X handle, Bora’s team then posted that they were allegedly detained at the Anti-Narcotic Task Force.

“Neha is detained alone at Anti-Narcotic Task Force, Manglapuri! It is 8 PM and there is no communication with Neha! Release Neha now!” the post read. However, it could not be confirmed whether Bora was at the said location.

In a letter to the Delhi Police, the AISA president’s lawyers have alleged that when they requested access to Bora, “police officials clandestinely removed her from the said facility and began taking her to another location.”

Dipke held a midnight press conference on Thursday, and alleged that police were following him everywhere and that he was being constantly watched by police and sleuths from the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

It must be noted that on October 15, the Delhi high court had refused to stop the CJP’s protest call. It had asked Delhi Police to regulate the event instead. However, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) declared that the Central Park would remain shut to the public on Friday and Saturday (17) due to “administrative reasons”.

This story was originally published in The Wire.