A tale of two numbing nights in and outside Delhi’s police stations  

I have been a journalist for over 12 years now and in all these years, I have steadfastly steered clear of police stations except for one instance with my previous employer when I was sent to a few specific police stations in Greater Noida where a series of murders had happened. Nothing much came out of that. All of that changed on Sunday and more specifically on Friday, December 20, 2019.

On Sunday, December 15, 2019, around dinner time, everyone heard that the Delhi police had barged into the Jamia Millia Islamia University and several students were brutally attacked. Along with it came the shocking news that around 150 students were being detained by the police in various police stations. These are the students studying in a university in the hope of a better future.

I wrapped up dinner quickly to ensure I could meet a person who was on his way to Jamia. Once we reached there, after meeting a few residents, we realised that several students were taken to New Friends Colony police station and Kalkaji Police station. Since several people were already at Kalkaji police station, we made our way to New Friends Colony police station. And that is when reality hits me.

The police simply did not allow lawyers, present outside the station, to even meet those who were detained inside the station for hours. Several of those detained had head injuries, asthma, fits and other medical conditions. Most of those detained were Muslims. The police simply refused them their basic rights. It took a burgeoning crowd in front of the Delhi Police headquarters, and a senior politician, who is also a lawyer, for the police to let a couple of people inside the station.

They wanted to slap charges on the students. They did not care about the medical emergencies of these students and they did not want the students to get a medico-legal certificate, most often called MLC. The MLC is a document which has all the injuries listed and it required if a case has to be filed against the police for the injuries. Eventually, the students were let go at 2.30 am.

At Kalkaji police station, a similar scene was playing out. From 8 pm, there were several human rights activists, prominent citizens and lawyers waiting to help at least 40 students who had been detained. One of the students, who was admitted in a hospital because of the police violence, was forcefully taken and brought to the station. Here too most students were Muslims. Several had head injuries, broken arms, legs and yet the police were not willing to allow anyone meet those who were detained. They were looking to slap charges for all the damage that had been done earlier in the day though it was evident that the students had not damaged any public property.

Faced with an agitating crowd, which included several senior politicians, in front of the police headquarters, eventually around 12 midnight, two people were allowed to meet those detained at Kalkaji Police station. The first-sight stories projected the brutality meted out to these youngsters, who were bleeding continuously without medical help. The police even attempted to let them go without the MLCs. Eventually, they were all let go at 3.45 am as the pressure kept building on them.

This open bigotry only set the stage for what I saw on Friday at the Daryaganj police station. Friday saw two protests – one was called by the Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar Azad from Jama Masjid to Delhi Gate and the other at India Gate. The march from Jama Masjid to Delhi Gate was meant to be mostly Muslims and Dalits. The one at India Gate would have people of all kinds, but mostly urban Delhi. The rally from Jama Masjid was meant to culminate at India Gate, but permissions were withdrawn. So, it had to remain contained within Old Delhi.

At India Gate, the cops stood outside the barricades, to let people in. There was no intrusion except when Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi came to express solidarity with those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act. As soon as she left, the whole posse of police also exited the protest grounds.

Towards the end of the protest at India Gate, news began to trickle in about more than 100 people having been picked up for the violence at the Delhi Gate rally. The violence also had conflicted origins because as soon as the rally reached the end of the Delhi Gate road, there was stone pelting.

But, several in the protests allege that the police were themselves a part of stone pelting. Then the police began to lathi charge the protestors. They all fled towards the Red Fort. After they had fled, a car was set on fire. No one knows who did it.

Several of those who were picked up were taken to Seemapuri, on the outskirts of Delhi and others to Daryaganj police station. All of those who were brought to Daryaganj police station were Muslims.

Of the 40, at least eight were minors. For three hours, the police shut the gates of the police station and did not let anyone enter, not even the band of lawyers who had made themselves available to help these people. The police were deliberately being uncooperative and ensured the procedures took longer than usual

I must remind you that currently, Delhi nights see 6°C . So, these young men, including the minors, were kept there without any warm clothes though the police had promised blankets much earlier. Eventually it took Councillor Yasmeen Kidwai’s insistence and an order from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arul Varma for the police to even open the gates to allow the lawyers in. In an hour or so they began to release a few of the minors.

Soon, I went in accompanied by a lawyer, who is a Hindu. I was to say that I am a lawyer if anyone were to ask. And the stories emerged. Most of those detained were huddled under a few blankets in the open. The police had already seized their mobile phones, so they insisted had to make reports though there was no primary evidence against them. Since, so many had been detained, the police were out to slap cases.

A policeman told a lawyer, “See so many have been arrested. A few FIRs will have to be registered. There was stone pelting and a vehicle was burnt. These people are always getting themselves entangled in cases. Do people from our families ever go to police stations or get caught by police. There are reasons for this. Do you understand, what I am saying, Sir.” By that the police meant that these are Muslims and they are in all likelihood complicit in criminal activities.

We went to another room where a few others were detained, including two minors. They were being watched by a policeman who wanted to know their background and other details. Both of the minors had severe injuries, including lathi bruises on the back, forearm, thigh and leg. All of this suggested that they had been beaten up after they were picked up by the police. Several of their discharge slips from Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital show the same.

Even the doctors at the LNJP Hospital were refusing to give the MLCs to those who were detained by the police. This would effectively only help the police. Even the Delhi health secretary Shaleen Mitra had to call them to ensure that the doctors and the police at the station followed the law.

At 2 am, there remained only two minors detained at the police station. Both of them had injuries and one had a head injury. The parents of the young boy without a head injury, but with other bodily injuries, could not come to the police station as they stayed quite far and they did not have a mode of transport. When the parent of the young boy with a head injury came, he said that his son was slightly mentally challenged, and his son was at home till 4 pm. He had then stepped out. His father said he was stripped in the police station and then beaten. The young boy was hesitant to speak and preferred to stay silent.

One of the cops wanted to know who had asked these young men to come for the protest and he said if they turn up for marches, it can only be expected that they would be picked up. The police wanted the parents to sign papers stating that their children were released in ‘sound condition’. The lawyers present at the police station prevented it from happening.

Another 20-year-old young man who was detained and then released was on his way to his relative’s house at Delhi Gate when he was picked up by the police. He also had bruises. He said the cops were abusive towards all of them because they were Muslims. He said one of the cops wanted a few of them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, but eventually they did not have to. They were abused for using the ‘Azadi’ slogan. He was preparing for a few exams and had simply chosen to go out.

At the time of writing this piece, at least 15 from Daryaganj police station have been remanded to judicial custody for two days.

Several of those at the hospital have been slowly released. Several cases have been slapped on them including for rioting.

Since, Daryaganj was closer to the city centre, more lawyers and media reached here than at Seemapuri police station and that had its effect. Even as late as 3 am, the police at Seemapuri were not allowing the lawyers and parents present in front of the police station to even meet those who had been detained. They were continuously denied their rights. Eventually, on Saturday afternoon, at least 12 of them were sent to judicial custody for at least a week.