On October 12th, upon the call of ‘My Vote, My Right’, hundreds of citizens in Bengaluru gathered to march to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer – Karnataka. The protestors faced brutal police action before being detained by the Bengaluru City Police. Students, lawyers, academics, activists and senior citizens had gathered nearby the CEO’s office, to demand that the SIR be scrapped and that Gyanesh Kumar resign.
The Bengaluru Police seem to have plucked a feather from Delhi police’s hat, when they prevented journalists from doing their job. A photojournalist from a prominent newspaper was beaten by four policemen, and three other journalists were manhandled. One of the journalists’ phones was snatched and damaged by the police. Police in mufti assaulted protestors, young people were beaten, and women were shoved and had their clothes pulled by male police personnel.
CPIML Karnataka State Secretary Comrade Clifton who was brutally detained during the protest said, “The issue is what is happening in Delhi, the young people are showing the way with great courage and determination to save the country from the fascist rule of Modi, determined to protect the right to vote and right to protest”. AICCTU State Secretary Comrade Maitreyi said, “What we are seeing today is an attempt to completely destroy democracy and all the Constitutional values. Everyone should hit the streets to protect our democratic ideals”.
The stark contrast of Karnataka Chief Minister walking shoulder-to-shoulder with LoP Rahul Gandhi and the protestors being brutally detained in Bangalore, exposed the hypocrisy of the Congress-led State Government. Later, both the Chief Minister and Home Minister Priyank Kharge have assured action into the police brutality. However, the question really remains as to whether there will be an alternative model of policing in Karnataka, or whether this Delhi-inspired model will repeat itself in Karnataka?
On October 13, Comrade Clifton D’Rozario wrote to Home Minister Priyank Kharge condemning the police action and demanding accountability for the assault on peaceful protesters and journalists. The letter stressed that the right to vote, dissent and peaceful protest are fundamental to democracy, and called on the state government to take action against the police officials responsible.
CPI(ML) has also demanded the withdrawal of the Bengaluru Commissioner of Police’s Licensing Order, 2021, which confines protests to Freedom Park. The Party maintains that peaceful protests cannot be restricted to designated venues, placards and slogans cannot be criminalised, and legitimate democratic struggles cannot be met with police violence.
The movement in Bangalore will continue to demand that the SIR be scrapped, restoration of voting rights of all those who have been arbitrarily deleted, and that CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign. The struggle will continue on the streets of Bengaluru and across Karnataka against arbitrary deletions, the politically motivated abuse of Form 7 targeting Muslims and Dalits, and the opacity of the SIR. The right to vote is fundamental to democracy, and so is the right to dissent. This is the test of the commitment to the Constitution.
