As Delhi chokes, police crack down on those demanding clean air

Delhi’s air may be turning toxic by the day — but on Sunday, it seemed the bigger danger, at least in the eyes of the authorities, came not from smog-choked skies but from the people pleading for relief from it.

A peaceful demonstration at India Gate, born from sheer frustration over the capital’s “very poor” air, took a dramatic turn when police moved in to disperse the crowd. What unfolded next was less a law-and-order challenge and more a reflection of a state uncomfortable with dissent: protesters, pushed back and hemmed in, allegedly resorted to pepper spray as officers attempted to forcefully clear the space.

Three to four policemen were left seeking treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital — an irony not lost on those present, given that the same toxic air the demonstrators were protesting continues to push countless Delhiites toward hospitals every day.

Officials claimed the protesters had entered the C-hexagon and blocked the passage of emergency vehicles, but witnesses insisted the gathering remained peaceful until the police intervened. “We only wanted to be heard,” one protester said. “The air is poisoning us — and we are treated like the threat.”

As barricades fell and tensions rose, the crowd sat on the road in defiance, refusing to be brushed aside in a city where air has become unbreathable but accountability remains elusive. Police eventually removed the group to keep traffic moving, but the message lingered sharply in the cold, polluted air: those demanding clean air are now being treated like lawbreakers.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla called the incident “unprecedented” — but for many in Delhi, what’s truly unprecedented is a metropolis where children inhale poison daily, yet the state’s strongest response seems directed at those raising the alarm.

In a city gasping for breath, it appears the protest, not the pollution, is what drew the swiftest crackdown.

With PTI inputs