Women stage silent demonstration at Kathipara against police action on anti-CEC protesters in Delhi

A group of young women wearing masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi staged a silent flash protest at Uptown Kathipara in Chennai on the night of Tuesday (October 13, 2026), walking through the busy food court holding placards criticising the BJP-led Union government. They condemned the police action unleashed on protesters in Delhi, who were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

The silent protest sought to draw parallels between the Emergency declared in 1975 and what the protesters described as the present situation in the country, alleging that young people were being detained, assaulted, and booked for questioning the government. They contended that the exercise of state power against peaceful protesters amounted to an “undeclared emergency”.

Radhika Ganesh, cultural and political activist, said, “The protest was directed at the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We were questioning the use of state brutality against peaceful protesters, which we believe is unwarranted.”

“We have a large group of women who organise and participate in these actions. Around 10 women staged the protest at different locations. We did it in an extremely peaceful manner. We did not raise slogans or speak. The idea is simply to draw public attention. We did not publicise the action on social media before staging it,” she added.

The action follows a similar silent protest staged by a group of activists at Besant Nagar last week. The organisers have said they intend to continue holding small, peaceful demonstrations in public spaces to draw attention to what they view as curbs on dissent.

By staging the demonstrations in busy public places, including food courts, the women said they aimed to bring the issue into everyday public conversations rather than rely solely on organised rallies or advance publicity on social media.

The protesters walked around the venue for about an hour until the police arrived. The police told them they were not allowed to stage the demonstration. “We believe that in a constitutional democracy, people must be allowed to express dissent peacefully in public spaces, particularly in places frequented by large numbers of people,” said Ms. Ganesh. They later dispersed from the venue.