Delhi Police’s methods of controlling the crowd during recent protests calls for a rethink

S.K. Sood

The year 2026, especially since July, appears to have become the year of protests in India. There have been several protests all over the country by the youth, who were either preparing for competitive examinations or seeking employment. These apart, sugarcane farmers in Karnataka have threatened to go on protests from early November demanding fair price for their produce. 

Localised protests against government policies are commonplace. However, there have been two major protests in India in recent months—against the leakage of question papers and evident manipulation of elections by the Election Commission. The students’ protest against question paper leaks and cancellation of competitive examinations had its origin in the suicide committed by several aspirants. Thereafter, the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi had been raising this issue on many forums including his well-attended ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ rallies. The issue got a fillip when a group of youth calling themselves ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ (CJP) held a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for over 20 days culminating in the march to Parliament on July 20, leading to the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While the protest at Jantar Mantar remained peaceful, the march to Parliament witnessed chaos. Several videos available on the social media indicate that the behaviour of Delhi Police and other security forces deployed to assist them to manage the protesting crowd left much to be desired.

Though the handling of protests by police in different states is generally highhanded, Delhi Police’s behaviour over the last one decade surpasses all of them. The CJP protests offered Delhi Police an opportunity to redeem itself, but it failed to seize it. Steeped in colonial mindset, it treats citizen as subjects to be controlled. It treats protesters as enemies instead of protecting their rights as required in a democratic set up. The Kerala High Court in Upendra Kallu Rathod v. State (2022) had reminded the police, “You are not dealing with enemies of the state.’ However, police in general and Delhi Police in particular, doesn’t appear to be concerned with these niceties.

At Jantar Mantar, and during subsequent protests and rallies against vote manipulations, the police resorted to several acts which are in violation of the rule of law. For example, not displaying nameplates is in clear violation of Supreme Court guidelines as mandated in DK Basu vs State of West Bengal in 1997. Displaying name tags is also mandated wide Section 36 of BNSS and Delhi Police Standing Order No 51. 

The videos available on social media show individuals in civil dress giving lathi blows to protesters. No one knows who these persons are, however, they appeared to be getting full protection from Delhi Police. There are allegations that police had drafted these people in civil dress from gangs affiliated to the right wing. It appeared as if Delhi Police had outsourced crowd control to goons.