Left parties on Friday condemned the restrictions imposed ahead of the October 10 protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission of India, accusing the Centre of curbing citizens’ fundamental right to peaceful assembly.
In a joint statement, the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) urged the Delhi Police and the Union government to stop intimidating prospective protesters and allow the demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
The parties alleged that the restrictions, imposed at the direction of the Union home minister, were intended to thwart the mobilisation.
They cited the denial of permission for the protest, extensive barricading, prohibitory orders, the closure of 57 metro stations, cancellation of Delhi-bound trains and alleged house arrests across the country.
“There are reports of students being put under detention in various places and the offices of student organisations are under surveillance,” the statement said.
The Left parties also alleged that the measures were inconveniencing the public and subjecting people to harassment. They demanded an end to arbitrary detentions and called on the authorities to remove the restrictions and allow people to assemble peacefully at Jantar Mantar.
The statement was signed by CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPI(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, AIFB general secretary G Devarajan and RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya.
(With inputs from PTI)
