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Snapshot of the day
October 15, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan, Kalrav Joshi
The national flag will be unfurled tomorrow, October 16, in New Delhi.
In a direct challenge to the state’s crackdown on dissent, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijit Dipke has called on people to wave the tiranga at 5 pm on October 16 in Central Park, Connaught Place in what he describes as a defiant assertion of democratic rights. Speaking at a press conference at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, Dipke urged people to “let the dictator know that it is not a crime.” The ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ (Unfurl the Tricolour) demonstrations are being organised against the jailing of CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka following their protest at Jantar Mantar earlier in the week for unfurling the national flag.
On Friday, the Delhi High Court refused to restrain the planned protest when asked to do so by a traders’ association but the Delhi Police told the bench that it would take “all possible measures” to control the demonstration. Later in the day, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation – a civic body directly under the control of the Union home ministry – announced Central Park would be closed to the public on Octobeer 16 and 17 “for administrative reasons”. The park has five entrance gates, which will be locked, but the fence surrounding the park is easy to scale so determined protestors ought to face no trouble getting in. The police is mobilising thousands of constables to thwart the protest and were quick to announce that they would "facilitate a group of 11 persons" to carry the flag and sing the national anthem "at a suitable place" at the park but that others should stay away.
“Our movement cannot be silenced by your repressive apparatus. This movement is for the rights of millions of disenfranchised citizens and their right to vote,” Dipke declared at a joint press conference attended by AISA president Neha Bora, human rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan, SFI leader Aishe Ghosh and other voices.
A Republic TV reporter started heckling Bora and Dipke during the press conference, presumably on instructions from his channel, and was eventually made to leave the venue by other journalists present.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has issued notices to the Centre and Delhi Police in nearly 46 fresh matters linked to the October 10 detentions and restrictions on protests in the capital, including the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant observed on Thursday, “Nobody can browbeat the Supreme Court.” The court also issued notice to the Election Commission of India on an Opposition petition challenging decisions by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
During the hearing on the removal of Jantar Mantar’s designated protest status, Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked that in the age of digital technology, voices could be heard from distant locations. Senior advocate Hariharan retorted: “If that is so, why do we need to be in Delhi? We can do it from Kerala.”
Here’s the reality check: Modi-Meta censorship whirs on, with social media accounts documenting the protests reportedly being blocked or restricted in India by Meta, citing legal demands. Instagram posts by Mathrubhumi and The Observer Post have been withheld, while the accounts of Journo Mirror, Molitics and journalist Shubhangi have been blocked in India.
The Supreme Court has also sought responses from Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, and the Kerala Congress on a separate petition seeking
