“Question of our rights; people’s power is unstoppable now”: Shabana Azmi amid protest against CEC

“This is a question of our democracy. It is a question of our rights. It is a question of our voice. We have been told since childhood to cast our votes, claim our rights, and raise our voices. But when our fundamental right is snatched away or manipulated, what is a person supposed to do? Naturally, they will protest, and this ‘people’s power’ is unstoppable now,” Azmi said.

“Once the spark is lit, you can see how it spreads; it is happening all across India,” she said.

Azmi alleged that the names of “thousands upon thousands” of people had been removed from the lists.

“After today’s protest, we will see if action is taken or if we have to keep fighting this battle. We have to fight the battle for as long as it takes,” she said.

This comes amid protests in Mumbai following a report by the Indian Express, which said that decisions taken on the Special Intensive Regulation (SIR) process were objected to by two of the three Election Commissioners.

According to the report, “Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions taken and orders issued without their knowledge.”

Earlier, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was a “traitor” and the “real anti-national”, and said the protest in Mumbai would receive support from people across the country.

Meanwhile in Delhi, members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), along with opposition leaders, staged protests near Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Several opposition leaders, including AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, were detained amid prohibitory restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.