THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira has likened the crackdown on protesters ahead of the October 10 demonstrations to an undeclared Emergency, accusing the authorities of using preventive detention to suppress dissent and curtail fundamental rights.
Condemning the denial of permission for the protests, Ferreira alleged that citizens, non-political figures and political leaders were detained across the country, including people picked up from their homes and others intercepted while travelling to participate in the movement.
“What was done on October 10, 2026, with protesters arrested, their phones having been taken away, no intimation to family, no right of access to a lawyer, and internet services being shut down… was openly imposing Emergency under the guise of preventive detention,” he said.
Questioning the legality of detentions outside Delhi, Ferreira asked under what law people could be detained in their own cities before reaching the national capital, particularly when prohibitory orders were applicable within Delhi's territorial limits.
“Had citizens become persona non grata in their own country? Had fundamental rights been taken away by mere executive orders?” he asked.
Citing Supreme Court observations on the right to protest, Ferreira said citizens were entitled to demonstrate peacefully, while the police had a duty to maintain law and order.
He also demanded an inquiry into allegations that unidentified individuals in police uniform without badges, along with others in plain clothes carrying batons, assaulted young protesters in the presence of police personnel.
“Who are they? Should they not be identifiable? Who gave the batons to them? Who allowed them to stand there without a badge?” he asked, drawing parallels with Nazi Germany's repressive forces.
Ferreira rejected claims circulating on social media that the protests were intended to destabilise the nation, arguing that people were exercising their constitutional right to demand accountability.
He also cited the NEET paper controversy and allegations of electoral irregularities involving vote manipulation and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Warning Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar against suppressing dissent, Ferreira said, “The right to protest cannot be stifled.”
