Delhi Police ignored goons in ‘saffron gamchha’ as they assaulted protesters

• Delhi Police face questions over alleged inaction as right-wing vigilante groups target protesters.

• Journalists report assaults, molestation and intimidation, particularly against young protesters and women.

• Accounts from Onir, Gauhar Raza, Mandeep Punia and Mohammed Zubair raise questions about police accountability.

There is now overwhelming evidence that Delhi Police gave a free pass to vigilante groups of Modi and BJP supporters to assault protesters on Saturday, 10 October. Unlike the 20 July protest, most of the vigilantes were not armed. But they targeted the very young and women whenever they strayed away from larger groups of protesters. Even when journalists like Ajit Anjum drew the attention of security forces to these groups, they paid no heed. They seemed to have been instructed to leave pro-government and pro-police elements alone.

In the face of overwhelming video evidence, Delhi Police reluctantly arrested four of these men. They have been identified as Raman Saini (50); Vivekanand alias Vivek (32); Kapil Kumar (27); and Ravinder Singh alias Govind Hindu (35). The four claim to be members of the right-wing Hindu Raksha Dal. While the arrests are clearly meant as a face-saver, there is equally compelling evidence against the police who allowed these people to assault protesters.

Filmmaker Onir shared a message he received from one of the protesters detained by Delhi Police, along with others. The chilling message indicated that there was perfect coordination between the police and vigilante groups; they knew where the police would release the detained protesters at night so that they could be assaulted. The message Onir shared reads as follows:

'They took us in (sic.) a bus ride for one-and-a-half hours and took us to the borders of Delhi, where they said they would release us. We raised slogans and they changed their mind and took us to another border. This was well after 6 pm and we were demanding that they should release the women first. They, however, dropped us off in a jungle; soon some ‘Bajrang’ people emerged to beat us up. They abused and threatened us, but it was good that we were in a group. Some uncles also arrived with rods and nails… policewomen were at least looking ashamed, but the rest were itching to use the rod on us…'

Scientist and poet Gauhar Raza and his activist wife Shabnam Hashmi were at Connaught Place. There were literally thousands of security personnel and hundreds of young protesters. The protesters were being detained one by one. As they watched the unfolding drama, a woman, apparently a journalist, came running towards them for her life. She was shivering and screaming that goons had beaten her up and molested her. But before Raza could react, policemen pounced on her and pushed her into a bus.

Besides the goons in saffron, there were also groups of people claiming to be journalists who were defending the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and misbehaving with protesters, Raza observed.

The couple were there for two-and-a-half hours. Just as they were leaving, another woman came running and panting towards them, seeking help. She, too, had been beaten up, possibly by the same vigilante group. The goons, around 100 of them, had been brought to Connaught Place in a bus and let loose on protesters in the area, Raza posted.

Mandeep Punia, another journalist on the ground, confirmed that the vigilante groups had been brought in buses from Ghaziabad, Loni and Bulandshahr. They were shouting ‘Delhi Police zindabad’ and targeting young women and boys who looked more vulnerable and least aggressive. It was a day out for them, and they seemed to be having fun. Police took no notice of them. Indeed, Punia noted that these vigilante groups became even more aggressive and nasty whenever they felt secure in the presence of security personnel.

‘In Connaught Place, right-wing goons kept surrounding the protesters all day. They kept hurling abuses. They even beat people up, but the police and paramilitary forces took no action against them,’ posted Mohammed Zubair.

Who will ensure the accountability of Delhi Police?