Annamalai defends CJP protest rights, questions Delhi Police detention
Former BJP leader K Annamalai affirmed the Cockroach Janta Party's constitutional right to protest while condemning Delhi Police's handling of their detention, raising specific concerns about due process and preventive detention procedures.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has defended the Cockroach Janta Party's right to protest while sharply criticizing Delhi Police's detention of its leaders. Annamalai, who now leads the organization We The Leaders, raised specific concerns about preventive detention, surety bond rejections, and the involvement of a Special Executive Magistrate in the case.
He questioned why eight bail sureties for the detained CJP leaders had been rejected and why a person offering surety was subjected to cross-examination. Annamalai also highlighted that an Assistant Commissioner of Police served as the Special Executive Magistrate in preventive bond proceedings involving Delhi Police detainees, a situation he argued undermines due process. Also, he sought an explanation for how Jantar Mantar was denotified as a designated protest site under a Ministry of Home Affairs order after the CJP had submitted a request to demonstrate there.
Annamalai defends CJP's right to protest despite criticizing tactics
Annamalai described the CJP's protest tactics as misguided and stated his organization does not support the group due to differing objectives. However, he firmly defended their fundamental right to demonstrate. He criticized the portrayal of protests against the Union government as anti-national or foreign-funded, arguing that criticism of government actions should not negate the right to protest. Annamalai compared the treatment of BJP workers who had previously disobeyed police orders with the current handling of CJP protesters, asking if it was similar. "Was it anything like what is happening now? Certainly not!" he stated.
K Annamalai said: "If you ask whether the CJP party has the right to protest in India, yes, it does."
Political context and responses to Annamalai's remarks
The former BJP leader and ex-IPS officer made these remarks at an event on Thursday, following a post on social media platform X on Wednesday. In his comments, he questioned the BJP's approach toward the CJP, referencing a Dussehra event where a cockroach effigy was burned under the leadership of BJP MLA Ashok Goel. Annamalai, who left the BJP on June 5, 2026, said attacks against him resumed after his remarks on the CJP detentions. He also invoked then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's 2011 remarks condemning a police crackdown on an anti-corruption protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
In response, BJP leader Vinod Selvam countered that the government must balance protest rights with its responsibilities to maintain public order. Selvam stated that alleged violations deserve examination and that no political affiliation exempts individuals from the law. He rejected claims that the BJP manufactures enemies, noting that twelve years in office increases the responsibility to maintain order. The CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained for seven days following a special executive magistrate's court order after an alleged attempt to trespass at Jantar Mantar. They were sent to Tihar Jail and were later released on Wednesday after signing a bond. Annamalai concluded by affirming the group's right to protest, stating my answer is an unequivocal yes!
