Excessive police force causes injuries and hospitalisations during peaceful marches

The Story in Brief

Twenty-three-year-old Arhaan (name changed) said he felt intense ear pain after attending the Cockroach Janta Party protest march in New Delhi on 20 July. He described a canister bursting near his head while he was trapped between barricades and police, briefly blacking out before fleeing when officers began lathi-charging. In a series of protests at Jantar Mantar called by the CJP, demonstrators accused Delhi police and other security personnel of using lathis, tear gas, pellet guns and shock batons; several protesters were treated for injuries and one 20-year-old woman required ventilator support. Security forces have denied the use of many of these devices, and reporting says transparency on crowd-control measures has been limited.

Reporters and experts note these so-called “less-lethal” tools have been used in earlier events such as the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, protests over the Citizenship Amendment Bill in 2019, and during operations in Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir. Human rights and medical reviews cited in the article link such devices to serious harms across organ systems, possible lifelong disability and death. The piece gives technical details about common agents such as CS gas, PAVA and oleoresin capsicum, notes grenade launchers can fire many tear-gas canisters at range, and records that five protesters at the CJP march suffered pellet injuries with one at risk of vision loss. It also cites past data from Jammu & Kashmir and urges measures such as de‑escalation, training, transparency, audits and investigation of serious injuries.

The Indian Opinion

The article presents strong allegations of excessive force alongside official denials; an ordinary reader should note the difference between reported allegations and independently verified findings. Some claims – such as lathis studded with nails and the first known use of shock-batons in the capital – are serious and appear as protester allegations or early reports; these require prompt, transparent investigation before being accepted as established fact. At the same time, peer‑reviewed reviews and past studies cited show documented medical harms from less‑lethal weapons, which justifies calls for clearer policies, regular audits, better training and independent probes. Where detail is thin – for example on who authorised specific devices or their exact deployment in individual incidents – the piece leaves room for further verification.

Original article: How excessive police force turns peaceful marches into medical crises (www.thehindu.com)

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.