Tens of thousands of protesters swarmed central Delhi on Monday morning as part of a planned but unauthorised march to Parliament. It quickly descended into pandemonium as the police struck agitators with batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse huge crowds that climbed over barricades and brought large parts of the capital to a halt.
Event Context
With hundreds of barricades on ten arterial roads, every path to Parliament was blocked, prompting protesters to slip into narrow lanes and suddenly converge at a roundabout. Police in riot gear stood behind several layers of metal barricades. The commotion began around 10.30am when protesters smashed past the barricades near Kerala House, which led Delhi Police to lathi-charge people. At 11.30am, protesters pushed past a barricade outside Parliament Street Police Station and marched on as police resorted to lathi-charging. Around 30 minutes later, another clash broke out near Patel Chowk and Rail Bhawan.
The protesters were finally pushed back near the Raisina road with tear gas shelling, roughly 50-100 metres from the Parliament gate, from where they branched off into various areas of central Delhi.
Police said an first information reports (FIR) is being lodged for rioting, assault on public servants, damage to public property and other offences committed during the protest. The statement said around 70 people were detained, and that at least 118 police personnel were injured. Around 15-20 vehicles and government property was vandalised, the statement added.
Player Focus
Delhi Police in a statement said the protestors had displayed violent behaviour, attacking personnel with stones and other objects while violating prohibitory orders that were in place despite warnings.
Team Analysis
Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who was present in the Parliament during the Monsoon Session, spoke to media about what happened inside the premises amid the protests in Delhi. Speaking to news agency ANI, she said, “Hum log ghabra gaye thhe. Gates bhi band kar diye gaye thhe. Parliamentarians bhi kaed ho gaye thhe… Mob kis tarah se attack karta hua… kal ek waqt toh ye tha ki hum sab kuch darr gaye thhe sab ki shayad attack kar denge hum par (We were worried. The gates were also closed. The Parliamentarians were inside. The mob were in the mode to attack and at one point we thought they might attack us so were scared).”
“Lekin main Delhi Police ki sarahanah karti hoon. Unhone humare beech mein shield ban kar khud par pathrav, chotein khayi lekin jan manas pe koi haani nahi hone diya (I applaud the Delhi Police. They took the stones and injuries upon themselves and ensured that no harm came to the public),” she added.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called for a march from Jantar Mantar, where the protestors have been camped for a month, to the Parliament, attracting a huge response, with thousands descending on the designated protest site on Monday. It was met with several challenges. This included a lathi charge and use of tear gas shells by security forces to disperse the crowd marching towards the Parliament.
