Caught on camera: on the use of force at Jantar Mantar
The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear complaints regarding police violence against student protesters at Jantar Mantar. Video evidence suggests excessive force, including physical abuse by both uniformed officers and unidentified individuals, during peaceful demonstrations.
Why it matters
The case highlights ongoing concerns regarding police accountability, the protection of civil liberties, and the treatment of student activists in India.
The massive use of force by the Delhi Police , and unidentified people, on student protesters in the national capital clearly breached all known protocols of crowd control. After its initial reluctance, the Supreme Court of India has now agreed to hear complaints of police excesses on Monday, July 27. Meanwhile, multiple video clips that have surfaced online show personnel, both in uniform and in normal clothes, using violence with an apparent intent to harm and terrorise protesters rather than to disperse them. Some protesters have sustained pellet injurie s that the police and the authorities have yet to explain. In one video, an identifiable senior official of the Delhi Police is seen slapping a girl who was standing nearby; in another, an unidentified person in uniform with three stars is seen poking a girl from behind while she was walking away.
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