On Sunday, Rajasthan Police detained several college students in Alwar as they prepared to protest during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s public event in the city. The students intended to display black flags in opposition to his visit, prompting police action to prevent the demonstration.
Police sources said the students were taken into custody before a proposed protest at RR College, news agency PTI reported. The protesters had planned to raise the issue of the lathi-charge on students at Jantar Mantar in Delhi during the Cockroach Janta Party protest in July. The Alwar detentions come against the backdrop of a wider pattern of preventive detentions ahead of Shah’s public engagements in recent weeks, as well as a sustained Opposition demand for the home minister’s resignation over the police action against student protesters in the national capital in July. Separately in Pune the same day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant More was detained after announcing he would stage a protest during Shah’s visit.
In Pune on August 1, several office-bearers of the Maharashtra Youth Congress and Pune City Congress were taken into custody shortly after midnight ahead of Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to the city. The Youth Congress alleged its leaders were held for nearly 16 hours and that police seized their mobile phones during the detention. The July 20 police action cited by the Alwar protesters relates to the student-led protest movement at Jantar Mantar over the NEET-UG paper leak, which had drawn activists under banners including the All India Students Association and the Cockroach Janta Party.
Other issues on their list were the poor condition of roads, the alleged Matsya scam (corruption in the fisheries department) and the demand for restoration of student union elections in Rajasthan, the sources further told PTI. Police said the detention was preventive and not linked to any criminal case, and was carried out to avoid disruption to the visit and an award ceremony for Doval.
