Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.
What happens after Delhi Police detains you?
Delhi Police is beating protesters after detaining them.
I saw this firsthand while sitting inside the blue, mesh-windowed van the police usually uses to ferry prisoners and undertrials between prisons and courts.
Detained on Sunday evening, I saw three policemen pummel almost everyone who boarded after me: two stood at the van’s door at the back, and the third inside the corridor, which opened into mesh-covered, cage-like enclosures. Once each citizen entered the corridor, they were hit in the abdomen, elbowed hard in the back, kicked and worse. One youngster was pushed to the floor and beaten there. Another was viciously stamped on. These assaults were systematic, seemed to last roughly similar lengths of time for each person being detained, and served as the prologue to the shove into the cages.
Earlier that evening, at around 4 pm, while sloganeering against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, a small group of student protesters from Disha Student Union (Disha Chhatra Sangathan) was intercepted by Delhi Police at the junction of Panchkuian Road and Outer Circle at Connaught Place in central Delhi. Thereafter, while photographing the ensuing mayhem as Delhi Police bundled protesters into DTC buses and a convict van, I was picked up as well.
yup. this happened. I accidentally found myself in the right place at the right time. the event left me with a large question: is this intimidation working? from what I saw — while reporting the previous day from Ballabhgarh and on Sunday (11th) from Connaught Place, it is not. Do read the report. Published here by Newslaundry and here by The News Minute.
I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism; and, more recently, been a finalist at the True Story Award and GIJN’s Global Shining Light Awards. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.
“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)
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