'I’m Here As A Citizen’: Actor Imran Khan Detained at CJP Protest in Mumbai

Mumbai Police launched a surge of detentions as CJP continues its demonstrations targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. August Kranti Maidan emerged as a major protest site, with a swell of demonstrators taken into custody. Actor Imran Khan was among those detained on Saturday evening.

Footage shared online captures police officers escorting and pulling Imran towards a waiting police van, while members of the media attempt to approach him for a response.

“I don’t have demands. I am here as a citizen, as someone who lives in this city. I am here to see why freedom of movement is being restricted-why people’s voices are being suppressed. That is why I am here. I am not in a position to make demands of anyone. Nor am I part of any organization. I am just here as a representative", he shared with media.

Police deployed additional personnel at Shivaji Park in Dadar to prevent CJP members from pulling off a demonstration. Security was also tightened at other locations across the city.

The actor also took to Instagram and posted a selfie from inside the police van. “Apparently I’m going for a drive,” the cheeky caption said.

Khan had also turned up at the protest march in July. He was asked if he had anything to say to actors who believe that art is not political. He insisted, "True art is going to have an individual artist point of you embedded within it, and as part of our human nature, we are going to have opinion and perspective that we hold through to ourselves . If you can’t stand by your opinions and if you do not pour your own heart into your art, your art has no value."

Imran Khan's Earlier Participation In CJP Demonstrations

Later, he wrote on social media, “Something broke in me today. Watching as police gassed and battered student protestors… how could I make sense of this? These students who worked hard, only to be failed by the system. These people who asked to be heard, only to be met with silence. These citizens who stood up to show what matters to them… beaten down and disowned by the establishment."

The actor added, “Are these not the children of Mother India? If not them, for whom do we build, and whose future do we claim to protect? Those who demand ‘organisation’ from students protesting education reform, but don’t apply such lofty standards of accountability to established authority; bootlickers, one and all."

Currently, the CJP has been demanding that CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls.