Communist Parties Globally Condemn Police Violence Against Comrades in India
“Hands off the Indian Communists, the people and the youth! All those arrested must be released immediately!” Statements from the Communist and Left Parties in Greece, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Britain and India.
Hands off the Indian Communists
“Hands off the Indian Communists, the people and the youth! All those arrested must be released immediately!”, emphasizes the International Relations Section of the Central Committee of the KKE in a statement, pointing out:
“The KKE unequivocally condemns the intimidation, violence and arrests targeting cadres and members of the CPI (Marxist) and its youth organization, the Democratic Federation of Indian Youth in New Delhi, Kerala and other parts of the country where they were demonstrating against the anti-popular policies of the Modi bourgeois government.
The government’s orgy of repression and the hundreds of arrests targeted, amongst others, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), M.A. Baby, members of the Politburo of the Central Committee such as Pinarayi Vijayan– a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and leader of the state’s official opposition – and the Party’s members of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) J. Brittas and V. Sivadasan.
We demand that the Indian authorities immediately release all those arrested, who are fighting for people’s rights. We express our solidarity with the CPI (M), its youth wing, and all those protesting against the anti-people policies of the Modi government, in defence of their needs and rights.”
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Dear comrades,
We express our solidarity with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the face of the recent police repression and violent detentions targeting your General Secretary, Comrade M.A. Baby, other communist leaders and protesters. The deepening crisis of capitalism worldwide, coupled with the declining credibility and persuasive power of the capitalist class and its political representatives, is driving them to intensify their attacks on the working class and communists, as exemplified by the reactionary BJP government in India.
The assault on the right to vote and stand for election, accompanied by police violence against those defending these rights, is another manifestation of this aggression.
We salute your Party's determined struggle to defend electoral rights and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. We are fully confident that your steadfast resistance will succeed in defeating these attacks.
Please convey our warmest comradely greetings and solidarity to all members of your Party and to those taking part in this struggle.
With comradeship and solidarity,
TKP Central Committee
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The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) expresses its firm solidarity with the people of India in their ongoing struggle to protect voting rights, defend democratic freedoms, and resist state repression.
The protests emerging in various parts of India reflect growing concerns over allegations of electoral irregularities and the exclusion of eligible voters from electoral rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The allegations raised by the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation and other opposition parties, and democratic forces regarding the impartiality and transparency of the electoral process must be addressed through independent, fair, and credible mechanisms. The integrity of elections is fundamental to democracy, and every eligible citizen must be able to exercise their right to vote without fear, discrimination, or intimidation.
In a statement issued on Sunday, 11 October 2026, Comrade Imdad Qazi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Pakistan, emphasized that the struggle to safeguard voting rights and democratic freedoms is not merely an internal matter for India. It is part of the broader struggle of the peoples of South Asia and the world for democracy, social justice, equality, and human dignity.
The CPP strongly condemns the use of state repression against peaceful protesters and democratic movements. It calls for an immediate end to intimidation and coercive measures against those exercising their fundamental democratic rights. The right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, political organization, and participation in public affairs must be respected and protected. Any attempt to undermine the independence and credibility of constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission, threatens the foundations of democratic governance.
The Communist Party of Pakistan believes that the future of South Asia lies in strengthening democracy, secularism, social justice, equality, and the sovereign rights of its peoples. The working people of the region share common interests in resisting exploitation, authoritarianism, communalism, and all forms of oppression.
Recognizing the historic bonds of friendship, solidarity, and shared struggles between the peoples of India and Pakistan, the CPP stands with the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, and all other democratic and progressive forces striving to protect the fundamental rights of the people. The CPP expresses its confidence that the people of India will continue their struggle with courage, unity, and determination and achieve success in defending their voting rights, democratic freedoms, and constitutional guarantees.
Long live people’s solidarity!
Long live democracy and democratic rights!
Long live the unity of the peoples of South Asia!
With our fraternal greetings,
International Department,
Central Committee,
The Communist Party of Pakistan
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We express our unwavering solidarity with the left, democratic, and progressive forces in India. In particular we express solidarity with the fraternal Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]as well as the broad mass movement of workers, peasants, studentsand youth, facing brutal state repression for peacefully protesting against electoral fraud and the disenfranchisement of eligible Indian citizens.
Over recent daysmassive peaceful demonstrations, in New Delhi and across India, have been sparked by concerns over the transparent and impartial conduct of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. These protests have been met with an alarming escalation of state violence and arbitrary arrests. The government's heavy-handed response has targeted leaders and cadres of the CPI (M), civil society representativesand key political figures.
Notably, high-ranking leaders of the CPI(M) including General Secretary, M.A. Baby, and a number of other Political Bureau members, have been detained. This is in addition to various CPI(M) state and Central Committee leaders. Reports of leaders beingsubjected to physical maltreatment, denied basic necessities like food, water, and essential medications, and having personal communication devices seized, highlight a blatant assault on fundamental constitutional freedoms and democratic rights.
The right to vote is the bedrock of any functioning democracy, and raising legitimate, peaceful concerns against opaque procedures or the mass deletion of eligible voters is a fundamental right of citizens. This escalating authoritarianism and the suppression of popular dissent exposes a deep fear of democratic mobilization and proves the reactionary nature of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Echoing the strong condemnations voiced internationally by the Left and progressive forces, the Tudeh Party of Iran demands the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested, the immediate cessation of the flawed SIR process, and accountability for the systemic violations of democratic norms. The struggle to defend voting rights, constitutional freedoms, and human dignity in India is a vital part of the global fight for justice and democracy.
Hands off the Indian communists, youth, and people!
The Tudeh Party of Iran
Monday 12 October 2026
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Calls for the Protection of Voting and Democratic Rights and an End to State Repression
Expressing solidarity with the ongoing mass movement in India, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) has stated that the struggle to defend voting rights and democratic freedoms is not merely the concern of the people of India; it is also part of the global struggle for democracy, people’s rights, and human dignity. Questioning violations of transparency and impartiality in an election commission’s conduct and demanding appropriate remedies are legitimate and natural responses by citizens in any country. The CPB has expressed its sincere solidarity with the Indian people in their just struggle.
In a statement issued on Sunday, 11 October 2026, CPB President Kazi Sazzad Zahir and General Secretary Abdullah Al Kafee said that the protests and mass movements emerging in various parts of India over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carry significance for the people of all countries across the subcontinent.
Serious allegations have been raised that the process has resulted in the deletion of the names of large numbers of voters ahead of elections in several states, including Bihar and West Bengal. Opposition parties and protesters allege that the SIR process is being used to remove eligible voters from the electoral rolls and undermine the electoral process. Protesters have described this as ‘vote theft’. Left-wing political parties and other opposition forces, student and youth organizations, young people, civil society groups, and farmers’ and workers’ organizations have mobilized in protest against the process.
Despite state repression, the movement against the disenfranchisement of eligible citizens in the name of electoral-roll revision and the undermining of electoral impartiality is increasingly developing into a broader mass movement centered on the defense of democratic rights.
The CPB leaders emphasized that democracy cannot be reduced to holding elections at regular intervals. Its foundations lie in the people’s right to express their views freely, organize, assemble peacefully, engage in political activities independently, and exercise their voting rights without fear or intimidation. When the credibility and independence of constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission are undermined, the democratic system itself is placed in jeopardy. Bangladesh has repeatedly experienced such grave violations, and its people have responded each time by building movements of resistance.
The statement further expressed the CPB’s deep concern over reports of obstruction, arrests, and the use of force against protesters. Peaceful protests cannot be suppressed, nor can a mass movement be brought to a halt by intimidating those who participate in it. The party stressed the urgent need to safeguard the people’s right to protest and assemble, and to ensure that the allegations raised are addressed through a transparent, impartial, and credible process.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh believes that the true interests of the peoples of South Asia lie in establishing democracy, secularism, social justice, equality, and the sovereign rights of the people. Noting the historically strong bonds of friendship and solidarity between the peoples of India and Bangladesh, the CPB leaders expressed their hope that the people of India, in their just struggle to defend voting rights and democratic freedoms, would emerge victorious.
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The Communist Party of Britain sends solidarity to the Communists, left, progressive forces and students in India facing brutal state repression in their struggle to defend the democratic rights of all India's citizens and uphold the integrity of the electoral system.
The scenes from India on Saturday (10 October 2026) show Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) General Secretary, Comrade M.A. Baby and other prominent leaders including Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan, Comrade John Brittas, Comrade Aishe Ghosh and Comrade Tapan Sen, being attacked and detained by the Delhi Police who also detained in custody the full central committee of CPI(M) during a peaceful march to Delhi's central protest location, Jantar Mantar. The mass protest demanded the dismissal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the immediate halt of the 'SIR' Process and restoration of voting rights to all voters who have been wrongfully excluded.
The so-called “special intensive revision (SIR) process has led to millions of names being deleted from electoral rolls, depriving Indian citizens of their right to vote. In West Bengal Muslims and other minorities, who do not vote for PM Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), were stripped of their voting rights. The Indian Express newspaper has exposed multiple irregularities in the SIR process, and more than a dozen internal objections that were unilaterally overruled by India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Opposition parties led by CPI(M), the 'Cockroach movement' and the Student Federation of India have called for Kumar's resignation.
The right to vote and express one’s political opinion is integral to democracy. The right-wing BJP government’s attempt to erase millions of voters from the electoral roll and suppress opposition parties, amounts to a neo-fascist assault on India's democracy itself.
The issues raised by the protesters concern the transparency and democratic functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the universal adult franchise. Any system that makes the right to vote dependent on opaque, centrally controlled processes undermines public confidence in the electoral system. The right to vote in India is a victory of the struggle of the working people and the vanguard of the masses. The CPI(M) has stated that India's democratic and Left forces cannot allow democracy to be corroded and handed over to fascist forces.
According to the CPI(M), public confidence in the independence and credibility of the ECI has never been so low. The CPI(M) has called for the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to be held accountable for manipulating the system and eroding people’s confidence in the institution.
CPI(M) leaders have also called for Delhi Police and the state machinery to be exposed for its violent attack on democratic voices struggling to defend India's Constitution.
The Communist Party of Britain stands in firm solidarity with our comrades in India and upholds their fight in defence of people's democracy.
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October 10, 2026
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the widespread repression unleashed by the Delhi Police on peaceful protesters in different parts of New Delhi today who were demanding the resignation of the CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Rollback of the SIR that has led to largescale disenfranchisement and other electoral reforms.
Braving the virtual curfew imposed in the city, with internet shutdowns, closed metro stations, and all other means of transport stopped and all other repressive and suppressive measures people have come out on the streets to protest.
Many top ranking leaders of the CPI(M) including General Secretary M.A. Baby, PB Member and leader of the Opposition in Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, veteran leader Brinda Karat, Polit Bureau Members M.V. Govindan, Vijayaraghavan and Central Committee Members including K K Shailaja, P K Sreemathi, Thomas Issac, K N Balagopal, P. Rajeev, John Brittas etc were arrested when they protested at Jantar Mantar. Another batch of Polit Bureau members including B.V. Raghavulu, Arun Kumar, Vijoo Krishnan, Mariam Dhawale and Central Committee members A.R. Sindhu, Lokanadhan and others were arrested near Minto Road, when they tried to march from the Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan at Indrajit Gupta Road. Veteran leader Manik Sarkar was also one of those arrested.
It is obvious that the Narendra Modi government has been rattled by the widespread protests. It is equally obvious that these repressive measures will fail to deter the people out on the streets. These protests were carried out despite intense police surveillance and their presence in large numbers in front of our offices in Delhi. In its obsession to exhibit power and strength the BJP government has shown extreme cowardice and the complete inability to conduct democratic governance.
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October 10, 2026
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Condemn Brutal Repression in Delhi & Other Places
Organise Countrywide Protests
In the repression unleashed on protesters in Delhi on October 10 the Delhi Police arrested hundreds of leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, students and youth. Almost the entire leadership of the
CPI(M) including its General Secretary MA Baby and other senior Polit Bureau and Central Committee members have taken into police custody. Many of those arrested were roughed up and manhandled by the police leading to injuries to some like MP, Sivadasan.
Polit Bureau Member and Kerala Leader of the Opposition, Com. Pinarayi Vijayan, CCMs K N Balagopal and John Brittas were confined to the police vehicle for hours together denied food, water and not even allowed to take essential medications. A contingent of detained women, including Polit Bureau Member, Mariam Dhawale who were taken to the Maurya Enclave Police Station were not even allowed to use the washroom. Mobile phones of a batch of comrades including MP, A.A. Rahim were taken by the Police.
The entire might of the state was brought upon the protesters with massive security deployment, barricading of roads alongwith severe restrictions on movement and communication. All these constitute a blatant assault on democratic rights to protest peacefully and constitutional freedoms and is a blatant display of authoritarianism.
The government's response exposes its fear of popular mobilisation and its determination to suppress dissent rather than answer serious questions about the SIR process. The right to vote is fundamental to democracy and cannot be undermined through opaque procedures or arbitrary exclusions.
The Polit Bureau calls upon the entire Party to organise protests by all Party units throughout the country against this repression and demanding that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be held accountable and removed, the SIR process be stopped and to ensure that the names of all eligible voters who have been deleted be restored in the list.
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October 10, 2026
CPI Strongly Condemns BJP’s Fascist Methods to Suppress Anti-CEC Protests
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued the following statement today (October 10, 2026):
The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the fascist methods employed by the Modi Government to suppress the protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, called by Left student organisations and CJP, with the support of Left parties. Deploying more than 45,000 security personnel in Central Delhi, cancelling trains arriving in the capital, shutting down the internet and closing 57 metro stations have turned Delhi into a military cantonment. RSS affiliated goons assaulted protesters in complicity with the Delhi Police. This grossly undemocratic crackdown is a cause of national and international embarrassment. The Modi Government has dropped all pretence of being a democratic regime, exposing its authoritarian fangs to suppress growing public anger over electoral malpractice, rigging of electoral rolls and the complicity of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
It is clear that the BJP has lost complete confidence in its popularity among the people and is winning elections solely on the basis of unfair means. The violence, intimidation and coercion unleashed against citizens seeking to exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest deserve the strongest condemnation. Despite days of preventive detentions by the Modi Government and BJP-ruled state governments, thousands of students and youth gathered in Delhi, undeterred by repression. Thousands were picked up and manhandled from roads leading to Jantar Mantar. Several journalists were also detained by the Delhi Police and prevented from covering the protest, in a blatant attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know. CPI National Secretariat members Rama Krushna Panda and K. Prekash Babu, AIYF General Secretary Sukhjinder Mahesari, NFIW General Secretary Nisha Sidhu, AISF General Secretary Dinesh Seerangaraj and AISF President Viraaj Devang were detained along with hundreds of CPI, AISF and AIYF activists. These shameful scenes expose the government’s fear of democratic dissent and its determination to silence those demanding accountability.
Despite the undemocratic crackdown, the Modi Government has failed to break the morale of those fighting to defend democracy. The CPI congratulates all those who are raising their voices for democracy, particularly the students and youth who stood firm in the face of severe repression. These protests will grow stronger and spread to every part of the country. The demand is clear: Gyanesh Kumar must resign and the electoral system must be comprehensively reformed. This struggle will not stop. Our unity will cause the downfall of this regime, which has already lost the moral right to continue.
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October 11, 2026
CPI Strongly Condemns Detention of CPI National Secretary Annie Raja, Police Violence Against AISF-AIYF Activists
The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued the following statement today (October 11, 2026):
The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the brutal manhandling and detention of CPI National Secretary Annie Raja and police brutality against AISF-AIYF activists who were peacefully marching towards Jantar Mantar to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Connaught Place, Delhi. AIYF General Secretary Sukhjinder Mahesari, AIYF President Raushan Kumar Sinha and AISF General Secretary Dinesh Seerangaraj were brutally manhandled and detained along with hundreds of activists from AISF, AIYF, SFI and DYFI. Further on these comrades were brutally assaulted inside the police vehicles while in detention.
CPI General Secretary D. Raja, along with National Secretariat members P. Sandosh Kumar MP, K. Prekash Babu and Annie Raja, immediately rushed to the spot and strongly condemned the Delhi Police's gross abuse of power at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Condemning the police brutality, CPI General Secretary D. Raja said, “This crackdown is unprecedented in Delhi. I have never seen such incidents in Delhi.” He demanded the immediate release of all detainees and the withdrawal of all FIRs filed against the protesters.
CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar asserted, “Everyday arrests and detentions will not deter us. Protest will continue. We will turn the whole city into a series of Jantar Mantars if we are not given a designated protest place.”
In a further display of police high-handedness, CPI National Secretary Annie Raja was detained while on her way to meet the arrested activists and was prevented from meeting them. Several detainees were in need of medical attention following the police action. Condemning the treatment of women protesters, Annie Raja said, “Police behaviour towards women protesters is cruel and I condemn this.”
The CPI strongly condemns these brazen attacks on democratic rights and the constitutional right to peaceful protest. The use of force, arbitrary detentions and the denial of access to detained activists, including those requiring medical attention, are wholly unacceptable. The CPI demands that all detainees must be released immediately, all FIRs withdrawn, and the Delhi Police must be held accountable for its actions. The right to peaceful protest cannot be crushed through intimidation and brute force.
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