Behind the Barricades

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NIHAL ALAM VISITED DELHI for a holiday in early October. The 36-year-old, who runs a photocopy shop in a Bihar village, had not had the chance to explore the national capital the one other time he had come. He took in the sights at Jama Masjid and the Red Fort, and caught up with friends. On 11 October, a Sunday, he wanted to buy some gifts for his family before heading home. That afternoon, Nihal stepped out with a friend—a 25-year-old Delhi resident who did not want us to name him. They went to Janpath and Palika Bazar, popular markets in the heart of Delhi, where Nihal bought some clothes and hair clips for his wife and niece.

As Nihal and his friend walked towards the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, they saw pitched confrontations between security forces and protesters. The previous day, after the pressure group Cockroach Janta Party and several students’ organisations called for protests at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, the union government had deployed over thirty thousand police and paramilitary personnel, who prevented protesters from getting anywhere near the site. Security forces and police reportedly detained around seven thousand people, including leaders from the CJP and the student organisations. Smaller protests had continued at Connaught Place on 11 October, with security forces shutting each of them down soon after they started. Worried about the commotion, Nihal and his friend asked a nearby policeman for advice. The friend recalled that the official told them to “go bindaas”—without any worry. “Just don’t chant slogans or get caught up in the crowd.”

Minutes later, a police posse dispersing protesters charged at the pair, hitting them with lathis. Nihal’s friend was wearing clothes that made it evident that he was Muslim. Nihal recalled the policemen telling his friend, “Aren’t you ashamed roaming around like this in your beard and kurta–pyjama?” Nihal tried explaining that they were there to shop, holding up his bags as proof, and told the police that he could feel pain shooting up his arm from the blows. “These are all excuses,” he recalled one official saying. “Don’t do drama.”