Photo: Slyronit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Groups of men raising slogans in support of the Delhi Police chased, slapped and allegedly beat young demonstrators in Connaught Place on Saturday, as the Capital was locked down to stop a protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Senior police officers said they had received no formal complaints but had taken note of videos of the attacks circulating online, and that the incidents were being looked into.
What happened at Indira Chowk and Palika Bazar
Around Indira Chowk, a crowd of about 200 men, several of whom said they belonged to the Hanuman Sena Delhi, heckled and abused protesters and pursued them along the inner circle, even though prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were in force. The confrontations took place roughly 50 metres from police personnel posted at the entrance to Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Some in the crowd urged the police to use their batons and called for violence against the protesters.
Asked why officers were not stepping in, one policeman on duty said, “We are seeing what can be done.” Another declined to comment.
Near Palika Bazar at around 2 pm, a group of about 20 people surrounded a young protester and hit him while shouting slogans praising the Delhi Police and the CEC. One video circulating online appeared to show a protester being chased and struck by a man who seemed to be holding a metal knuckle, leaving him with several wounds on his back. Separate footage showed people throwing stones at a bus carrying detainees in Jhandewalan. Some protesters alleged that in a few instances police and the men chased demonstrators together.
Political reactions
The Aam Aadmi Party shared a clip of a young woman being knocked to the ground and asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah who had given the attackers the right to target young protesters. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the Delhi Police of encouraging the violence and said Congress and the INDIA bloc would take to the streets again on Monday, October 12.
Background and what comes next
The protest was called by the youth platform Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the student group AISA over alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Thousands were detained across the city on Saturday, including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, his colleague Saurav Das and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
CJP’s national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde, who is now leading the campaign, said supporters would march to Jantar Mantar again at 10 am on Sunday and, if stopped, would hold their protest wherever they were halted. With fresh demonstrations planned for Sunday and Monday, how the police handle both protesters and counter-groups is likely to come under close scrutiny.
