Leaders of India's Cockroach Movement Released

Leaders of the 'Cockroach' movement, who were detained following protests against controversial voter list regulations in India, have been released and announced that demonstrations will continue.

Conditions of Release

Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka, three leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party, were released on the condition that they do not disturb the peace for one year, according to a social media post by the movement's legal director, Ratna Singh.

Police had detained the leaders on their flight landing in New Delhi from Mumbai on Saturday.

Reason for Protests

The protests were triggered after authorities removed more than 130 million voters from the voter list since last year.

While the opposition argues that this is politically motivated, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission deny the allegations.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner.

Security Measures and Interventions

Following Saturday's protests, a large-scale security operation was launched in the capital, and more than 2,000 protesters, including numerous opposition members of parliament, were detained.

While protests were held again in small groups in the capital on Sunday, police intervened in these actions and detained several individuals once more.

Emergence of the Movement

The 'Cockroach' movement began as an online satirical campaign this summer after India's attorney general compared unemployed youth to parasites.

Organized by the group that grew as young people embraced this phrase, protests led to the resignation of Modi's education minister in July.