While the ECI’s role is being questioned, it is worth remembering how the body once disenfranchised Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray during the late 1980’s for six years on account of communal speech.
The Reclaim Constitution Initiative organised the event along with the International Institute for Art, Culture and Democracy and the R R Naik Seva Trust.
Over 30 activists, including Vinay Sreenivasa and Clifton D’ Rozario, were soon detained by the police at Cubbon Park and Ashok Nagar police stations while others were told to disperse and not accumulate in front of the metro station to form a human chain, despite volunteers making way for the movement of pedestrians and vehicles on either sides of the gathering.