SFI flag in hand, Kerala's Pavithra jumps from police van, becomes face of Delhi protests
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A striking image of a young woman sprinting past a heavy police deployment, an SFI flag fluttering in her hand, has emerged as one of the defining visuals of the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi. The woman is P Pavithra, a native of Mankara in Kerala's Palakkad district and a third-year anthropology student at Hansraj College in the national capital.
The daughter of the late Prakashan and K C Bindu, an accountant at the Mankara Co-operative Bank, Pavithra stood her ground amid a massive police presence as students joined the protest.
Recalling the dramatic moments that followed her detention, Pavithra said she felt no fear when she jumped out of a police van. She said her determination to face whatever came her way had driven her to take the leap. She had arrived in Delhi with her friends to take part in the protest.
Around 200 activists had gathered at Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan on Friday, where police attempted to detain them late at night. Student leaders resisted the move, and Pavithra and several others later made their way to AKG Bhawan.
The protesters subsequently moved towards Akashvani Bhawan, navigating multiple barricades along the route. Police action briefly scattered the crowd, but the activists regrouped before officers detained them in police vehicles.
Pavithra alleged that several protesters were assaulted inside the police van. She said that when the vehicle came to a halt, she and around 10 others jumped out, raised slogans and ran into the streets with the flag in hand to resume the protest.
The image of Pavithra sprinting with the SFI flag amid a heavy police presence has since captured attention, putting a Kerala student at the centre of the visuals emerging from the continuing agitation in Delhi.
The CJP began its protest in Delhi on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
