Can Bengaluru protest against EC? Over 200 were held for trying, Shivakumar clears the air | Political Pulse News
Amid the Congress’s vocal opposition to the large-scale detention of protesters in Delhi and mounting criticism over the detention of more than 200 anti-SIR demonstrators in Bengaluru on Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday reiterated his government’s commitment to the right to peaceful protest, saying there will be “no double standards”.
There were two rounds of detentions of anti-SIR demonstrators in Bengaluru. Around 125 student activists were detained on Saturday, followed by approximately 100 protesters on Monday, as they attempted to march towards the State Election Commission (SEC) office.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy. We cannot demand that right for ourselves in Delhi and deny it to others in Bengaluru,” Shivakumar said in a statement.
The CM said he had taken note of the incident involving protesters and members of the media and had sought a detailed report on the circumstances that led to the police action. “If there has been any unnecessary use of force or excess, accountability will follow. Disagreement with the Election Commission (EC), disagreement with my government, or disagreement with me personally does not diminish anyone’s right to peacefully express it,” the statement read.
Earlier in the day, state Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the handling of Monday’s protests would be reviewed. In a post on X, Kharge said, “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy. It must be respected, protected and never suppressed. I have issued instructions to the police to ensure that no peaceful demonstration is disrupted…”
“The police are here to protect your rights, not to stand in the way of your voice. Our responsibility is not merely to maintain law and order, but to create an environment where every citizen can express dissent freely, peacefully and without fear. In a democracy, peaceful dissent is not a threat to law and order. It is a right that law and order must protect,” he said.
Kharge also urged protesters to cooperate with the police and keep the authorities informed, saying this would help safeguard their own safety as well as the rights of others.
Advocates protest
A group of advocates on Tuesday protested outside the Karnataka High Court demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and condemning the detention of lawyers and activists by the Delhi Police.
Gathering near Gate No. 1 of the High Court, the advocates questioned the independence of the EC and opposed the use of Form 7 to seek the deletion of names from electoral rolls. They argued that the process could result in eligible voters being excluded and called for safeguards against arbitrary deletions.
“Form 7 should go, and ultimately SIR must be scrapped. There is no Constitutional provision to implement such an exercise,” said senior advocate S Balan, one of the protesters.
The advocates demanded accountability for the detention of lawyers and activists in Delhi and called for measures to safeguard the institutional autonomy of the EC.
Two rounds of detentions
During both protests when detentions were made, the police cited Karnataka High Court directions restricting demonstrations to designated venues. They said the protesters were taken into preventive custody for attempting to march without permission and were subsequently released.
According to DCP (Central) Akshay M Hakay, the protesters had assembled near K R Circle on Monday without permission or prior intimation. They were asked to move to Freedom Park, the designated protest venue, but refused to comply, following which they were detained, he said.
In a statement, Hakay said the police had acted with “due restraint and sensitivity in the prevailing circumstances”. Acknowledging the friction between police personnel and journalists covering the demonstration, he described it as “completely unintentional” and said it had occurred under “straining circumstances”.
Photojournalists, however, alleged that police personnel, some of them in plainclothes, had manhandled them and attempted to prevent them from recording the detention of protesters, despite their identifying themselves as members of the press.
The police have also cited the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, which regulates public demonstrations and requires organisers to obtain the necessary permissions. Freedom Park is the designated venue for protests under the applicable arrangement.
