The Bengaluru police on October 2 - Gandhi Jayanti - detained several protestors affiliated to the Horatada Hakkigaagi Janandolana who were holding a demonstration opposing the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations, and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, which deems protests outside Freedom Park in the city illegal.
The Bengaluru Police Commissioner issued the order, brought into effect in January 2022, during the previous BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai, which restricted all protests to Freedom Park. One of the reasons cited was traffic snarls protest marches resulted in.
However, civil society groups say the decision has made protests invisible. Members of Horatada Hakkigaagi Janandolana, which is a coalition of progressive and democratic groups and individuals, demanded that the right to protest be protected and the unreasonable restrictions imposed be withdrawn.
