Stick-wielding groups threaten anti-ECI protesters; 4 held for assault
A day after saffron-clad groups assaulted protesters demanding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, men carrying sticks were seen moving around central Delhi and threatening demonstrators again on Sunday, even as four alleged attackers were arrested in connection with Saturday’s violence.
On Saturday, groups of men sporting saffron scarves and raising religious slogans were seen moving around the protest areas, threatening demonstrators and openly defending the use of violence against those protesting against the Election Commission of India (ECI).
On Sunday, several men carrying sticks were seen moving around Connaught Place, where demonstrations were taking place, confronting protesters and issuing threats. The groups continued to move through the streets despite the arrests made in connection with Saturday’s assault.
While four men claiming to be members of the right-wing Hindu Raksha Dal have been arrested for allegedly assaulting students and manhandling women on DDU Marg, videos from Saturday showed larger groups moving around the protest areas in full view of police personnel, openly expressing support for them and the administration and threatening the demonstrators.
The men were heard saying they had come out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and didn’t care if police picked them up. They also alleged that “anti-national and anti-Modi” slogans were being raised at the protests, while some described the demonstrators as “anti-national elements” who “deserved to be thrashed”.
Groups of men sporting saffron scarves were also seen raising slogans of “Delhi Police tum lath bajao, hum tumhare saath hain (Delhi Police, you wield the baton, we are with you)”.
The groups moved around despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) being in force.
Thousands of protesters were detained across the capital during Saturday’s demonstrations demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the EC’s functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls it undertook.
In one widely circulated video, two men could be seen assaulting a male protester and physically maltreating a woman, pushing her to the ground and pulling at her clothes.
The two men also appear in several older videos alongside Hindu Raksha Dal chief Pinki Chaudhary, a history-sheeter based in Ghaziabad.
The footage also purportedly shows a police officer at the spot. At one point, another officer is seen approaching one of the alleged attackers and apparently whispering something into his ear, following which the man charges towards the person recording the incident.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was among those who shared a screenshot of the purported assault. It was this video that Chaudhary also shared on X on Saturday, claiming responsibility for the attack and identifying the men as members of his organisation.
“These are my workers from the Hindu Raksha Dal, an organisation that delivers on its promises,” he wrote, adding that the outfit has the power to set the minds of “cockroaches” straight and would continue to do so.
In another post, Chaudhary described the attackers as “warriors” of Sanatan Dharma and warned that those who targeted it would be targeted.
“We have no interest in politics, but if anyone targets Sanatan, we will target them and send them exactly where they belong,” he wrote, tagging the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the offices of the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Chaudhary also warned that the Hindu Raksha Dal would not spare those who challenged it and declared that he was ready to protect his workers.
His posts followed an appeal issued ahead of the demonstrations, in which he had called upon his supporters to reach Jantar Mantar carrying sticks.
Police on Sunday said that four men had been arrested in connection with the DDU Marg assault, which occurred on a stretch falling under the Kamla Market police station.
The arrests relate to one of the incidents captured on camera, while several other videos from Saturday showed larger groups purportedly confronting and threatening the demonstrators at different locations.
