The Special Executive Magistrate asked me to explain why I should not be required to execute a bond of Rs 10,000, with a surety, to maintain peace during an inquiry.

The notice leaves me with a simple question. What is this peace that I am being asked to maintain? And what have I done to threaten it? To understand this notice, one must first understand why we have been protesting .

Students, activists, lawyers and concerned citizens have gathered on the streets of Delhi to question the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the threat of disenfranchisement, and the accountability of the Election Commission. Our concern is that people may be deprived of one of their most fundamental democratic rights: the right to vote. For someone whose name is removed from an electoral roll, this is not merely an administrative matter. It is about whether they have a voice in deciding who governs them. Whether they count as equal citizens.…