22 December 2012
Demonstrators react as police
unleash water cannon and tear gas
during a protest rally following the
rape of a student on December 15,
in front of the Rashtrapati Bhavan,
in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo:
Kamal Narang
The seething outrage over the
gruesome gang-rape case spilled
on to the Raisina Hill and the entire
stretch of Rajpath on Saturday as a
large number of youth, in different
groups, descended there to knock
at the doors of the Head of the
State at Rashtrapati Bhavan
seeking justice for the victim.
The day-long action that saw
unabated agitation and an
aggressive response from the Delhi
Police, in which 125 tear-gas shells
were lobbed and over 35
protesters injured, culminated in a
meeting of one of the groups with
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde who assured them of fast-
tracking the trial in the case and a
“sea-change” in policing through
implementation of long-term
reforms.
Following waves of protests, in
which the young school and
college-going youth, comprising a
large number of girls, raised
slogans and engaged the police,
the government relented. A seven-
member group comprising five
young women met the Home
Minister at his residence around
7.15 p.m.. Earlier in the day,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
had summoned Mr. Shinde and
directed him to intervene in the
matter.
Despite assurances by the group of
a positive government response to
their demands, the other sceptical
protesters refused to budge from
the arena stating they would not
leave until a senior government
functionary addressed them in
person sharing the measures being
taken.
It was around 8 a.m. that the youth
had started converging at India
Gate demanding death penalty for
the rapists. As the crowd swelled,
it began moving up on Rajpath
towards Rashtrapati Bhavan. The
police, however, blocked the path
of the protesters with barricades
and buses parked at the footsteps
of Raisina Hills.
Overshooting police anticipation,
students and young professionals
— who primarily relied on social
media and SMS communication to
muster support — began
screaming their lungs out against
what they described was utter
complacency and lip service by the
government and the police in the
matter.
As new groups kept merging with
the protesting crowds, their first
face-off with the police happened
around 11 a.m. To disperse them,
the police trained a water-cannon
on them and lobbed a volley of
tear-gas shells.
What followed was a brief spell of
violence by some protesters who
targeted police buses, accusing the
police of unnecessarily using force
on unarmed protesters who
included girls and women. On at
least six occasions, the police
resorted to caning the young
protesters, who hurled stones,
shoes and water bottles at them in
retaliation.
Around 5.30 p.m. when hassled
senior police officers were busy
negotiating with a group to defuse
the prevailing situation and
manage the leader-less crowd, the
lathi-wielding security personnel
in riot-gears again charged at the
protesters driving them away.
The protesters again tried to
reorganise themselves at the
nearby Vijay Chowk where they
were attacked again, this time
from all the directions. Several of
them sustained injuries but they
decided to stay put with young
girls forming a chain around male
counterparts to stall the police
advance. Leaders of the Aam
Aadmi Party, including Gopal Rai,
Manish Sisodia and Kumar
Vishwas, who also participated
along their supporters, addressed
the crowd later in the evening.
“Had the President come out even
once and addressed the youth
assuring firm action, the
protesters would have quietly
dispersed …we should not leave
this place till our demands are
met,” said Mr. Vishwas, drawing a
loud cheer.
For their part, the police claimed
that 37 of their personnel and
around 35 protesters were injured
in the action. “In all, 125 tear-gas
shells were used. Thirty
barricades, six buses, two
motorcycles and two government
vehicles parked at Vayu Bhawan
were damaged. A case of rioting
and destruction of public property
is being registered at the
Parliament Street police station,”
said a police officer.
