130 Million Removed From India's Voter Rolls, Sparking Protests

More than 130 million people have been removed from India's voter rolls, triggering protests that began October 10 and prompted police to detain journalists covering the events. Independent journalist Fatima Khan said close to 40 journalists have been detained since the demonstrations started. Khan, 29, is based in New Delhi and has reported on politics, hate crimes, and social justice in India for several years.

Khan has published reporting on the protests in New Lines Magazine, Drop Site News, Article 14, and The Quint. She said she was present on the first day of protests against the election commission. On that day, she said, police detained people who began sloganeering, raised banners, or simply stood in place. Detention buses were present at the scene.

Police began detaining journalists as well, Khan said. A 20-year-old student journalist she interviewed was detained around 7 p.m., though Indian law bars detaining women past 6 p.m. The student was held for a couple of hours and met Khan outside the police station around 10:30 or 11 p.m.

Protests over the voter rolls followed demonstrations earlier this year over a medical-school entry exam. The government announced this spring that millions of young people would have to retake the exam after questions leaked. Some students who had prepared for months died by suicide. Protests grew into a movement called the Cockroach Janta Party, a name drawn from comments by Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant, who compared young people to parasites and cockroaches. Those protests ran through the end of July and led to the education minister's resignation.

Khan said the current protests include Gen Z participants as well as older people who support the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, some from working-class backgrounds, and urban youth. She said the first day of protests, October 10, saw police drag protesters into detention buses within seconds. She said she was recording an interview that day when a police officer grabbed a person holding her phone and led that person away.

YouTubers and others posting on social media have distributed information about the protests. Khan said many such creators have gained large subscriber bases and that their view counts and online response often exceed mainstream television coverage of the same events. She said mainstream media in India has not shown up at Cockroach Janta Party protests or, when present, arrived to create chaos, demonize protesters, or spread fake news. Some reporters from outlets known for pro-government bias have appeared at protests carrying lapel microphones without the organization's logo, she said, because protesters recognize branded microphones and decline to engage.

The Supreme Court of India said this month it will decide whether accredited journalists, individual freelancers, and influencers require different levels of protection. Kant said, "If everyone starts becoming a journalist, it will create problems for every other person." Khan said, "there's been just a complete disregard for even holding up a veneer of press freedom."

Khan said she has covered many protests over eight years and that some lasted months. She said she has not witnessed journalists being detained the way they are now. She said visuals showed a bus full of journalists displaying press cards through the windows. Protesters have called for the resignation of the chief of India's election commission. The government has responded by beating and detaining demonstrators and the journalists covering the story.

Khan said she was outside the police station around 10:30 or 11 p.m. on October 10, after the student journalist was released from detention.