Police kin allege one-sided narrative on July 20 clashes

Recalling broken helmets, blood-soaked uniforms and anxious hours spent outside hospitals, families of four Delhi Police personnel injured during the July 20 CJP-led march to the Parliament on Friday alleged that officers on duty came under attack in the crowd. Urging the Parliament to acknowledge the injuries suffered by policemen alongside allegations of police excesses, they said the trauma endured by police families had been largely absent from the public discourse.

Addressing a press conference at the Constitution Club of India, the wives and children of four injured officers shared their ordeal. They maintained that they were not blaming the students who participated in the protest but alleged that “anti-social elements” had infiltrated the gathering and triggered the violence.

Upneet Kaur, wife of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said the night her husband returned home injured was traumatic for the family, including their two-year-old daughter. “Behind every uniform is not only a police officer; there is also a wife, children, parents and an entire family. We want people to understand that,” she said.

The families displayed photographs of injured police personnel during the press conference alongside figures they claimed reflected the scale of the violence. According to the presentation, more than 250 police personnel were injured, while over 110 barricades, 300 body protectors, 350 helmets, 20 loudhailers, 10 hand-held metal detectors and an X-ray baggage scanner were damaged. They also claimed that more than 25 government vehicles and other public property were vandalised.

Seema, wife of an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) who has served in Delhi Police for 33 years, recalled speaking to her husband on the morning of July 20 when he informed her that a large crowd had gathered and was preparing to march towards Parliament.

Hours later, she received another call informing her that he had been admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. “When I spoke to him, he told me that some anti-social elements in the crowd attacked police personnel with stones, flower pots, slippers and shoes. After that, his phone battery died, and I was terrified,” she said.

She said her husband returned home around 11 pm with his protective helmet broken. “Had another stone struck his head after the helmet broke, he might not have survived. But for days, the only narrative discussed was that the police used brutality against students. That is only one side. We want what happened to police personnel and their families also to be discussed in Parliament,” she said.

Kunjal, a Delhi University student whose father, a sub-inspector, was injured in the clashes, said her father had served for 15 years as a Marine Commando in the Indian Navy before joining Delhi Police. She alleged that on July 25, while deployed near the stage at Jantar Mantar, her father was pulled into a mob, “almost lynched,” and remained unconscious for nearly four hours at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. “When my father’s colleagues brought him home around 10 pm, his uniform was soaked in blood. It was painful to see him in that condition,” she said.

Kunjal also said she was deeply distressed by the reaction on social media. “When I opened social media, my father had already been declared a criminal. Later, I learnt that those accused of attacking police personnel had approached the Supreme Court. I felt I also had to seek justice for my father. We too have equal rights as citizens, and we hope justice will be done,” she said.

Lakshya Singh, son of another injured ACP, said he was shocked when he first saw his father after the head injury he suffered during the violence. “His head had been shaved, and there were stitches. I was frightened,” he said, adding that his father later told the family that while many people had gathered for the protest, some individuals were intent on creating chaos.

He said it was frustrating that discussions on the incident had largely focused on allegations against the police. “Whenever I go online, I see videos portraying only the police as criminals. There is no discussion, even in Parliament, about the police personnel who were injured. We only want our side to be heard,” he said.

The press conference came a day after a group of retired police officers defended Delhi Police’s handling of the July 20 march, arguing that the public narrative had become one-sided and had failed to acknowledge the injuries suffered by police personnel during the clashes.

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