Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders, was detained by the Delhi police at Vijay Chowk on Tuesday as they marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against the questioning of party president Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case a second time. Congress held the protest march, beginning at the Parliament, with the intention of presenting a memorandum to the newly sworn-in President Droupadi Murmu.
Videos and photos of police action against the protesters including some of the senior Congress leaders went viral as they purportedly showed the police dragging some of them by their hands and legs, and pulling Youth Congress president Srinivas BV's hair.
BOOM spoke to members of Congress and the Delhi police to find out what transpired during the protest.
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What exactly happened during the protest?
In one of the videos of the protest that was shared the most, Delhi police personnel can be seen pushing Srinivas BV by his hair into a police car. The video purportedly shows a cop violently pulling the Congress member's hair. Srinivas BV is head telling reporters, "I was hit," while struggling to come out of the police car.
Several photos and videos tweeted from the official handles of the Congress party and Srinivas BV also show the police dragging protesters on the ground and not allowing them to sit for the dharna.
Paramilitary forces were deployed near the Congress headquarters in Delhi where they detained several Congress workers including All India Mahila Congress president Netta D'Souza. In a video tweeted by the Congress Twitter handle, D'Souza can be seen dragged on the ground by RAF personnel, as she tells media people, "They're not allowing women to even sit near the office." She was heard singing the devotional song "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram" which was widely popularised by Mahatma Gandhi.
Other videos showed that some women Congress workers had their clothes in the process of being detained.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also detained, but when he sat on the road to resist detention, police officers can be seen negotiating with him, rather than dragging him away as they did with the others. He was taken to Parliament Street police station after being detained and released at 7 pm.
Srinivas BV's account
Speaking to BOOM, Srinivas BV said that the police had installed a barricade on the road and were hitting a Congress worker who was protesting. "When I asked them why are you beating him, all of a sudden the policemen came and started hitting me. They hit me on my back and dragged me inside. During the assault, my foot and hand got injured," he said.
Calling the police action planned and purposeful, Srinivas BV said that no senior officer present on the spot intervened while he was being beaten up. "They (police) were beating me ruthlessly. Then they forcibly bundled me in the cab and took me to Tughluk Lane and from there to the Sarojini Market police post."
In the video, he can be heard asking cops "Aap log kyun maar rahe hain (Why are you hitting me)?", to which a Rapid Action Force personnel replies, "No one is hitting you." He was finally seated in the police van and taken away from the protest site.
Srinivas, along with other Congress leaders, were taken to the Vasant Kunj police station where they were kept for six hours before being released.
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What prompted police action?
The police said that the Congress leaders had been asked not to hold a massive gathering. The police claim they warned the protesters but the Congress leaders continued to protest.
Srinivas believes that it wasn't the fault of the police personnel as they were just "following instructions". "People who are in power and their main heads direct them (police) about such violence… so they are simply following the instructions," he said. He later said in a tweet, "In independent India, if Congress workers cannot even come outside their party headquarters, then what's the point of democracy? Why is the dictator so afraid?"
The Delhi police have launched an internal inquiry into the allegations of assault. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of Delhi, Vikas Kumar, told BOOM that they are trying to identify the cops who allegedly assaulted Srinivas BV and other leaders.
However, Kumar also said that what was seen in the videos may not be actual reality. "Sometimes what we see may not be true. What if the cop is trying to press his head and in the video, it looks like he is pulling his hair? Sometimes if a cop tries to pull someone from behind and accidentally his hand touches the neck, it can seem like the cop is choking his throat."
Kumar said a team has been set up to investigate the matter and disciplinary action will be taken if anyone is found guilty. The police said 259 people, including 57 members of Parliament, were detained. Rahul Gandhi was also detained and released at 7 pm.
Congress leaders say they followed police instructions
Several leaders of the Congress have criticised the central government and accused it of trying to muzzle dissent and the voice of the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, told the media that Congress leaders had followed the instructions of the police. "All of this is a conspiracy by prime minister Narendra Modi and (union home minister) Amit Shah to completely destroy the opposition and muzzle our voices. We won't be scared, our fight will continue," he said.
Other members of Congress echoed Kharge's thoughts and said that the Modi government did not respect human rights or dignity. Vineet Punia, secretary of the All India Congress Committee told BOOM, "They even like striking and hurting members of Congress in order to inflict violence on them. With this type of messaging, authorities like the police are encouraged. They believe that treating those who disagree with them in this way is acceptable.