A planned tricolour gathering at Delhi’s Connaught Place on October 16 has emerged as the next flashpoint in a dispute over protest restrictions, after two office-bearers of the Cockroach Janta Party were sent to five-day judicial custody over alleged violations linked to a demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke called on people to assemble at Central Park in Connaught Place at 5 p.m. on Friday with the national flag. In a post on X on October 14, he also urged supporters who could not travel to Delhi to hold “tiranga marches” in their own cities.
Mr. Dipke said the gathering would demonstrate that waving the national flag was not a crime. He also expressed apprehension that he could be arrested, saying he was prepared to raise the tricolour despite that possibility.
The call came after CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail. According to the police, the two were accused of violating peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which has been de-notified as a protest area. The police told the court that they could repeat the alleged violations or encourage others to do so if released.
The dispute began after CJP members holding the national flag raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on October 13. The organisation said its members had “reclaimed” the protest site and their right to demonstrate.
Two first information reports were registered against 14 CJP members on allegations of trespass, disobedience of official orders and obstruction of police personnel on duty. Ajinkya Shinde, who was also placed under preventive arrest, was released after furnishing a personal bond and surety of ₹5,000. He gave an undertaking to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months, according to a police statement.
The arrests followed an earlier episode at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Mr. Dipke, Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka were detained on October 10, the day the CJP had called for an anti-CEC protest at Jantar Mantar, and were released nearly 24 hours later on October 11. CJP office-bearers claimed that their release was subject to a condition that they would not engage in any activity breaching peace and tranquillity for a year.
The latest announcement places Central Park and the wider Connaught Place area at the centre of the next planned mobilisation. Connaught Place is a major commercial and public-space district in central Delhi, and any gathering there would require coordination between the organisers, police and civic authorities over access, crowd movement and public order.
Mr. Dipke returned to Delhi on October 14 after travelling back to his village earlier in the week following the death of his grandmother. The proposed gathering is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Central Park on October 16.
