How Gen Z Outsmarted the Govt With a New Version of ‘Gandhigiri’
In the days after police used batons and tear gas on thousands of young protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20, the youngsters responded with “reactance,” not the reaction authorities expected. Knowing their audience was on social media, especially Instagram, they posted videos of themselves joking, staged photographs beside the same officers who had charged them, and made reels that turned a shy Mumbai police constable into a viral heartthrob. While a crackdown is built to produce fear, they answered it with laughter instead: a version of “Gandhigiri” that turned the very officers meant to intimidate them into props for their own campaign.
How Political Ego Made the CJP Protests a Crisis for the Government
The government could have prevented the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests from becoming a national political crisis for itself. It had several opportunities to do so but missed each one, apparently because key decision-makers treated compromise as weakness and dissent as a challenge to their authority. Political ego ended up putting at risk not only the government’s standing, but also public confidence in institutions acting on its behalf.
Sri Lankan Youth, Groups Rally in Solidarity with India’s Student Protesters
Youth activists, organisations and trade unions in Sri Lanka expressed solidarity with student protesters in India by holding a peaceful demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in Colombo in support of weeks-long protests against exam-paper leaks and alleged police violence.
CJP Protests: Key Developments After Dharmendra Pradhan’s Resignation
Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down as Union education minister on July 25, bringing to an end 36 days of protests initiated by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Two days later, as of noon on July 27, key developments included a police investigation into the firing of pellet guns at protesters, Supreme Court petitions alleging police excesses against students, violent unrest in Bihar, an angry response from Central University of Kerala students to social media posts praising Pradhan, and activist Sonam Wangchuk’s planned visit to Rajghat in Delhi.
On the Day the Govt Promised Wangchuk No Cases Against Protesters, Police Went After a Volunteer’s Family
Hours after the Centre assured activist Sonam Wangchuk that no cases would be filed against those who had protested at Jantar Mantar and marched to Parliament on 20 July, one volunteer’s family was learning that the assurance did not extend to them, Newsreel Asia has been told.
Delhi’s ‘Jantar Mantar Republic:’ the India Its Youngsters Want, and Are Building
A huge, leaderless crowd of protesters has been gathering at Connaught Place in Delhi alongside the organised Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at a designated site at Jantar Mantar. By July 23, it looked at least four times the size of the CJP protest. Even without any leadership, except a few self-appointed volunteers doing crowd management, they seem to be living out the India they want, one they seem to be building themselves, an India where your identity and agency are never questioned but accepted with mutual trust and protection for one another.
As a Woman Journalist, I Felt Safe Amid Thousands of Stranger Men at CJP Protest
Thousands of men have been filling the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest ground at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for nearly a month. In the initial days, each time I walked into that crowd I expected to feel unsafe, as I always have as a woman in this city. What I soon found instead, as I covered the ongoing youth movement, is a kind of safety I had almost stopped believing was possible in a public space in the capital city, despite the area being dense with strangers.
5 Forms of Unlawful, Punitive Force Delhi Police May Have Used Against CJP Protesters
Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel used batons and tear gas against thousands of protesters during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) “Chalo Sansad” march on July 20, leaving scores injured and dozens detained. Eyewitness accounts from journalists covering the protest, including those from Newsreel Asia, and videos circulating on social media point to at least five serious forms of possibly unlawful and punitive force.
CBI Arrests Accused in Custodial Death Case Only After Supreme Court’s Pressure
The Supreme Court had to threaten contempt proceedings against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to get two Madhya Pradesh police officers arrested in a custodial death case. This reveals how state institutions are willing to go to shield their own when ordinary citizens’ rights are violated unless the judiciary directly intervenes and maintains pressure.
Custodial Torture: ‘State Killing Its Own Citizens?’ Asks Madras High Court
Five police personnel in Tamil Nadu have been arrested for allegedly torturing a 29-year-old temple security guard to death in custody. He was detained without an FIR, subjected to prolonged assault and died without being charged or produced before a magistrate. The police, it seems, did not just act outside the law, they acted without regard for the existence of law altogether.
Supreme Court: Police Must Inform Accused of Arrest Reasons
The Supreme Court on Feb. 7 mandated that police must immediately inform the accused of the grounds for their arrest. The Court stated that failing to do so violates fundamental rights and invalidates the arrest.
Court on Delhi Riots: Is Police Trying to Protect Ex-BJP MLA?
A Delhi court labeled police action during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots a “hate crime” and demanded an FIR against the inspector of the police station. It also questioned whether officers neglected or concealed allegations involving former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kapil Mishra, instructing the complainant to seek legal action against him.
Delhi Journalist Detained While Reporting
Poonam Pandey, a Delhi-based journalist, was prevented by police from filming a protest and subsequently detained while covering the demonstration by the opposition Congress party. The Press Club of India has requested a judicial inquiry into the incident, voicing concerns about the treatment of journalists in the country.