Is waving the Tiranga [‘tricolour’/national flag] a crime?

Opposition leaders, including West Bengal’s former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, on Friday came out in support of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and AISA chief Neha Bora after the two youth leaders were detained over the latest round of protests against alleged electoral fraud. Dipke was picked up from his Delhi residence before he could head to Connaught Place, where a ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ flag-hoisting event was planned, while Neha Bora was headed to Jantar Mantar, which was last week denotified as a protest site, and was also part of the wider demonstration.

A government that fears dissent is now trying to intimidate an entire generation into silence. This is the conduct of a fascist regime that cannot tolerate a voice it cannot control,” accusing the BJP-led central government and the Election Commission of collusion. DMK chief MK Stalin, a former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, questioned where the two were being held. “The Union Government must release them immediately and stop suppressing peaceful protests. Both locations are on the outskirts of the national capital. “Is waving the Tiranga [‘tricolour’/national flag] a crime?

Police said around 150 people were detained by Friday evening.

A police spokesperson also said there was no permission for the protests and that the Flag Code was potentially being violated, thus the action. READ | A Step Behind Neha Bora: What Rahul Gandhi’s Gesture Says About Congress’ Gen-Z Pitch The Trinamool Congress founder further wrote, “This is nothing short of an undeclared Emergency. “Detaining them without disclosing their whereabouts is blatantly illegal and deeply inhumane,” he posted on X. Every attempt to crush the movement will only make it stronger,” Stalin added, demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “must go” . Police sources told PTI that Dipke had been taken to Jafarpur Kalan police station. AISA later said on X that Bora was being held alone at the Anti-Narcotic Task Force office in Manglapuri. Arvind Kejriwal called the central government and police’s action “sheer dictatorship”. Abhijeet’s arrest shows how scared Modi ji is of them,” the AAP chief said, taking aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has said the protests are “attempts at creating anarchy”, dismissing the poll fraud charges as Congress’s “inability to accept defeat”.