Bengaluru Police detain, release over 50 AISA activists protesting SIR

Bengaluru: Police detained and later released more than 50 activists of the All India Students Association (AISA) who staged a protest near Town Hall against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged police brutality against protesters in Delhi.

The protest was held to condemn the alleged overnight detention of activist Neha Bora at a police station in Delhi on October 16. The activists attempted to march from Town Hall to Freedom Park carrying the national flag.

Police detained them, stating that protests were permitted only at Freedom Park. AISA member Aquiline objected to the action, saying it went against recent directions from the Chief Minister and the Home Minister, who had asked Bengaluru police to cooperate with protesters and refrain from arbitrary restrictions on their right to protest.

Aquiline alleged that permission to protest was being granted selectively. She cited recent protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Jayanagar and the Tiranga Yatra organised by the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) near Town Hall.

“The ABVP protest took place in Jayanagar, and the Tiranga Yatra took place near the Town Hall. Therefore, there is a clear display of arbitrary bias in deciding what is permitted and what is not,” she said.

Aquiline said AISA was making efforts to cooperate with the police but stressed the need to draw public attention to the SIR exercise, particularly as Karnataka’s final draft electoral roll was expected to be published by the end of October.

“We are trying our best to cooperate with the police. There is an urgent need to draw everyone's attention to the SIR because the final draft voter list is expected to be published in Karnataka by the end of this month. We need to raise more awareness on this issue and also raise our voices against the atrocities happening in Delhi and other parts of the country,” she said.