At Bengaluru’s Freedom Park, SIR protest turns into a people’s tribunal
Bengaluru CJP protest, SIR: Bengaluru’s SIR protest at Freedom Park featured a People’s Tribunal, with demonstrators raising concerns over voter deletions and democratic accountability.
At Bengaluru’s Freedom Park, SIR protest turns into a people’s tribunal
Bengaluru’s Freedom Park became the site of a large protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on October 8, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the withdrawal of the exercise.
The protest brought together people from different sections of society, including students, women and members of civil society. Actor and activist Prakash Raj, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and Abhijit Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), were among those who addressed the gathering.
But the protest was not limited to speeches and slogans. One of its central features was a ‘People’s Tribunal’, organised to hear from people who claim that their names have been removed from the electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.
The CJP said the tribunal was meant to provide a public platform to people from different parts of Karnataka to narrate their experiences. Organisers said they wanted to hear directly from those who believe they have been wrongly excluded from the voter list.
A symbolic ‘Chappal Protest’ was also held later in the day. Organisers described it as an expression of solidarity with women who allegedly lost their names from the electoral rolls. CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said the organisers would continue speaking to people across Karnataka who claim that their names were deleted from the rolls without proper justification.
The protest also had a strong visual language. Posters carried messages such as ‘Error 404 – Name Not Found’ and ‘Don’t erase us, hear us’. Other placards read ‘Vote Theft’ and ‘Grand Theft Democracy’. Protesters were also seen carrying posters with slogans such as ‘Dictatorship will not be tolerated’ and ‘Gyanesh Kumar, gaddi leave your chair’. Images of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose appeared on some of the posters.
Addressing the gathering, Prakash Raj argued that the SIR should not be viewed simply as an exercise involving the deletion of names from electoral rolls. He said the larger issue was the right to vote and the dignity of citizens. According to him, the Election Commission cannot take away a citizen’s voting rights, and the agitation should continue until the SIR is withdrawn.
Prakash Raj also accused the Election Commission of functioning under the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He alleged that the exercise was disproportionately affecting Adivasis, poor people, Muslims and other minority communities.
These remain allegations made by protesters and were not independently established in the material available for this report.
Dhruv Rathee, meanwhile, questioned the Election Commission’s transparency and accountability over the SIR process. Speaking at the protest, he said the movement was not aimed at bringing down a particular government but was about raising questions over the functioning of democratic institutions.
Dipke, the CJP founder, accused the Election Commission and the central government of undermining democracy. He alleged that the deletion of names from electoral rolls was being used to serve a particular political objective and said the protest would continue until Gyanesh Kumar stepped down.
The organisers have put forward a broader set of demands, including the suspension of the SIR, restoration of the earlier electoral rolls and an independent investigation into the process. The CJP has also called for the repeal of the 2023 law governing appointments to the Election Commission.
The Bengaluru protest is also being positioned as part of a larger campaign. A further demonstration has been announced at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10, with the CJP, AISA, AISF, SFI and other student organisations expected to participate.
What began as a dispute over the revision of electoral rolls has therefore moved into a wider political argument over voting rights, the Election Commission and the safeguards surrounding India’s electoral process. The events at Freedom Park showed how the SIR controversy is increasingly being taken to the streets, with protesters seeking to turn individual claims of exclusion into a larger public debate.
