Between barricades: how non-protesters were caught up in Delhi crackdown

At the heart of New Delhi, Connaught Place is flanked by two places of worship — Hanuman Mandir and Gurdwara Sri Bangla Sahib. Both are close to Jantar Mantar, where thousands of protesters have been trying to gather to protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. On October 10 and 11, both places drew large numbers of devotees. Yet the streets around them became effectively off-limits, even as the gates remained open.

One such person was Gurbaksh Singh, a resident of Karol Bagh. Swerving past multiple police barricades and talking his way out of multiple police pickets, he found a way to New Delhi on October 10, as police officials kept bundling demonstrators into buses. As soon as he reached the area in an autorickshaw, the police hauled him onto a bus.

“They let me go after some time, but I tried to visit the gurdwara again. There were police officials everywhere. One of them told me that if they saw me again, they would take me away,” he said.

Many shoppers and passersby near Rajiv Chowk metro station’s Gate No 7 around 6:30 PM on October 11 were pushed into buses with other detainees. At the time, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) had called for a women’s march from the area.

Shivam Rajput, a gig worker, said he was on his way to pick up an order near Safdarjung Enclave when a police officer stopped him. “I did not know that there was a protest underway there since I had not checked my phone. I was just glad that I got an order, since much of the work had dried up because of internet restrictions across Central Delhi. Much of my work happens from there,” he said.

“The officer said that he would not let me go. I told him I was going to collect a parcel, but he didn’t believe me despite seeing the application. He was almost about to pull me off the bike when I just decided not to risk it and cancelled the pickup,” he said.

A couple visiting Connaught Place said their outing took an unexpected turn when police personnel chased them and attempted to detain them, apparently mistaking them for protesters.

“We had come to Connaught Place for a date when the police suddenly started chasing us and tried to detain us, apparently mistaking us for protesters. I was angry because we were out together and had nothing to do with the protest. The police needed to understand that we were walking peacefully and had not raised any slogans,” said one of them.

On October 11, a woman who visited Connaught Place for shopping said police detained her friend and that she couldn’t reach him by phone afterwards.

“I came here to shop. My friend was detained, and I am not even able to get through to him on the phone,” she said. According to the police, they had released all detainees from Delhi’s designated detention centres and police stations by October 12. During the protest, police detained at least 6,500 people over a span of three days.