New Delhi: Several Twitter users shared a 30-second video of a group of five men, who appeared to be injured and lying on the road, being surrounded by police personnel in riot gear.
The video shows a policeman capturing the incident on his phone camera as a protester is being made to sing the National Anthem. As this is happening, a voice is heard saying, “sing Vande Mataram!”, while another is shouting an expletive of living in Hindustan. A third person standing up is heard, apparently taunting, the men to shout Aazadi (freedom), a popular slogan in the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Sounds of the injured men being hit by a lathi can be heard, while a policeman is shown pulling the hair of one of the men.
https://twitter.com/Muhammadi100/status/1232208133721907201?s=20
It is yet unclear where the video was shot. But not surprisingly, it has evoked strong reactions. Former Samajwadi Party MP and journalist Shahid Siddiqui tweeted the video and claimed the injured men were “Muslim boys”. Siddiqui tweeted, “Muslim boys beaten up and forced to sing National Anthem by @DelhiPolice No difference between goons & police. Here you see the stark horrible reality of today’s India.”
‘Shaheen Bagh Official’, a Twitter handle associated with the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, also shared the video. It claimed the incident happened in Maujpur and tweeted, “When the protector turns perpetrator, where do we go?! Shame on @DelhiPolice for disrespecting the value of human life. Is this how the Delhi Police fulfills its Constitutional duty to show respect to our National Anthem?..”
The Washington Post journalist Ishaan Tharoor, who happens to be the son of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, also shared the video.
The video is likely to fuel further criticism of the Delhi Police. Opposition groups and opponents of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had accused the Delhi Police of not acting proactively to curb the violence in northeast Delhi Monday.
A head constable was among seven people killed and at least 60 others, including several paramilitary and Delhi Police personnel, were injured as violence spiralled over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in northeast Delhi Monday.
