Large protests against the country’s election authorities were planned in the capital, New Delhi, over the weekend. But Saturday’s arrests of the “Cockroach Party” leader, Dipke, and two other leaders at the capital’s airport have hampered the movement’s plans.
During the day, Indian authorities carried out extensive operations, detaining thousands of protesters and shutting down the city’s mobile network.
On Saturday, the UN human rights office called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all arbitrarily detained protesters.
“We are concerned by reports of mass arrests in India of protesters, protest leaders, civil society representatives, lawyers and journalists,” the statement said.
The demonstrations have expressed dissatisfaction over a controversial change to the electoral roll. Millions of eligible Indians are prevented from voting by the change, according to the opposition, which is demanding the resignation of election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
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