Yesterday AAP released a two-day old video in which it was seen that Delhi Police was lathi-charging and assaulting students who had come to protest against the death of Rohith Vemula. For some reason, these students had chosen the RSS office to carry out their protests.
Pro-Delhi Police versions claim that the cops took the extreme steps only after the students had provoked them. Delhi Police DPC (Central) Paramaditya said:
“It was protesters who provoked first. They threw banners and sticks at us. They broke the first barricade. Then they charged towards the second layer of barricade where max force was deployed,”
Whatever reasons the police might give, it has to be said that violence is no solution. The videos in fact show the cops getting far more aggressive with the students than just a lathi charge. Students were beaten and assaulted. Such behaviour by cops can possibly justified against armed goons (obviously they would not dare touch goons though). But no amount of verbal provocation by anyone should result in the cops losing their cool.
The videos also showed some plain-clothed people joining in with the cops and beating up the students. This is even more wrong. No civilian should be allowed to take law into his hands, especially in the presence of the police. Both the errant cops and the civilians who joined them need to be punished as soon as possible.
Also, while we criticize the cops, we must look at the “students” and their behaviour as well. They don’t seem to have done anything patently illegal, but a look at these videos will probably raise doubts in your minds whether these were just ordinary students or part of a political ploy.
Meet tomorrow’s Romila Thapars and Kavita Krishnans ! pic.twitter.com/8MDX8I17Kv
— Revolutionary Monk (@RevolutionMonk) February 1, 2016
The coarse language used by these so called students is extremely shocking. Also one can see the kind of provocation which the cops were mentioning. No, verbal indecency can never be a justification for physical violence. At the same time, one needs to understand that this might not have been just another student protest.
And on cue, Indian media went into an overdrive reporting on the above incident. Yes, this incident deserves its fair share of debate because it is an important issue, but such debates should be based only and only on facts. A few media houses like Indian Express, Huffington Post and ABPNews, claimed that in the videos, a policeman was seen grabbing a girl by her hair, punching her and dragging her.
The truth however was that the person was not a girl or woman, but a long haired man. This is amply clear when one sees better quality pictures:
Again, this in no way justifies the gruesome manner in which the cops pulled the male by his hair and threw him to the ground. This is just an attempt to bring the facts out in the open. The cops must be punished for their insensitive and violent behaviour.
It is indeed a shame that such hot-headed, lawless cops give a bad name to the Delhi Police, which just a few days ago used social media to great effect and helped trace the family of a lost senior citizen:
Smt Kamla Gupta, 80..found in Ashok Vihar..unable to recall her address. If u identify pls contact PS Ashok Vihar. pic.twitter.com/o0A7uFRCJ0
— Madhur Verma (@DCP_North_Delhi) January 31, 2016
That’s the power of social media. Thanks @TwitterIndia .Family members of Mrs Kamla Gupta traced in less then 2 hrs! pic.twitter.com/9NGw1MFFvG
— Madhur Verma (@DCP_North_Delhi) January 31, 2016
