Delhi: JNUSU protests against SIR, claims several students detained

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Wednesday claimed that several student leaders were detained by police during a protest against the revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls.

The protest was held outside the university gate.

The Election Commission (EC) is conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, ahead of the assembly polls due later this year.

Also read: Hindu temple desecrated in US; Indian consulate calls act ‘reprehensible’

The draft roll was published on August 1, amid opposition claims that the ongoing exercise will deprive crores of eligible citizens of their right to vote. The final roll is scheduled to be published on September 30.

In a statement, the JNUSU alleged that Delhi Police detained its office bearers and All India Students’ Association (AISA) members during the protest.

It said the police action is “a chilling echo of a broader pattern of stifling dissent under the current regime”.

The union said the students were peacefully mobilising to oppose the EC’s “exclusionary” SIR policies, which it claimed would lead to voter disenfranchisement.

One of the posters at the protest read, “ECI must answer the concerns of opposition.”

The opposition has been protesting against the SIR exercise in Parliament and has been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.

Also read: Hindu temple desecrated in US; Indian consulate calls act ‘reprehensible’

On Monday, INDIA bloc MPs, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sharad Pawar, marched from Parliament to the EC headquarters, accusing the poll body of “vote fraud” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and against the SIR exercise.