Tag: Singhu protest

The Last Night at Singhu

As tents were folded and tractors packed, some expressed cautious happiness while others were decidedly sad.

Singhu: Yellow mustard flowers have bloomed near Singhu once again and robust green feral castor guards the roadside. But it was time for the farmers to leave Delhi. A year was up and the Narendra Modi government – barring the guarantee of Minimum Support Price as a legal right – has agreed to farmers’ demands. These include the assurance to withdraw cases against protesters, compensation for the families of those who have died, and so on. 

After a three-hour metro-rickshaw-cab-ride, I found myself on a withered tarmac with some company. 

A group of farmers were walking towards Singhu. Six people from Punjab and one older man, Mani Lal, from Sikar in Rajasthan.

“Punjab farmers have awakened the country to MSP, if they leave without legal guarantee, they will betray the nation,” said Mani. Suddenly, Tajinder, an Amristari farmer cut in, “We are aren’t going anywhere. If the leaders have taken a call, we should honour it. India will get MSP.”

Mani didn’t seem convinced. The road swerved unto a dusty trail passing an ebony sewage drain and overlooking a semi-ghetto but Mani’s questions kept us distracted. 

‘India will get MSP’. Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh

In no time, I was at the border. The police’s barbed wires and cements road blocks had still not been removed, but the green stage at Singhu was already being disassembled.

Farmer leader Balbir Singh had just finished his last speech, praising the farmers for the victory and admonishing Modi and “Ambani-Adani”. He requested all to leave the camps by the morning of December 11. But the question on MSP remained unanswered. 

Also read: Tikri Border: The Day the Farmers’ Protest Ended

Evening was setting in, and hordes of tractors with youths and massive speakers were on the roads. A dancing frenzy was unleashed. Cameras were out, and flashes were lightning up the dark. 

Soon the music dimmed and serious faces appeared. Inside each tent, farmers’ were cutting bamboo structures, iron rods and packing up their tents. Tractor trollies were being loaded, and farmers’ caravans were leaving. 

‘But now I will be alone again, with my debt’. Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh

Amidst the bustle, I found a sad face – Pappu, a middle aged tea shop owner. His hole-in-a-wall tea stall was stocked with biscuits to omelettes and sweet confectionary. I ordered an omelette, he looked through his electric blue frame and our conversation began. “With the farmers gone, I won’t even earn Rs 600 a day. I had already stopped making tea, hoping that in the winter omelette and eggs sales will go up. But now all is gone,” Pappu said. 

Pappu was among hundreds other local vendors, who have been dejected about the farmers’ return. “Business was going so well, I thought I could even repay my debts. But now I will be alone again, with my debt. I will be sad once the farmers are gone,” he said. 

Pappu spoke about rising poverty, the Modi government, ration shortages and the police’s lathi charges. People kept coming in. In a year’s time, Pappu, a native of Kanpur, had learned and now spoke Punjabi. 

Also read: Six Major Phases That Defined the Farmers’ Movement in India

It was now darker outside, the wind was cold, and my omelette was over. I had to leave for my tent – Ambedkar Students Library. This is a blue makeshift canvas-plastic structure, which houses books and budding journalists.

I was given a warm welcome and taken to special guest section. Here I found Sandeep Singh and Gurdeep Singh smiling. “People are now tired. This has been a long year and believe me it wasn’t always so energetic. In June and the August-September period, only a few thousands people were here. It was raining, and we didn’t even have enough hands to repair the damages,” said Gurdeep Singh, a MPhil student who is in charge of the library. 

‘It had been a tough year for many at Singhu. But all that appears over now.’ Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh

It had been a tough year for many at Singhu. But all that appears over now. The loud music and dances were still on. As Gurdeep chopped onions, we prepared for dinner when a journalist Manpreet Singh walked in with freshly cooked carrot and potatoes.

We eat heartily our last Singhu supper, huddled inside a tent.

We asked each other about the movement, the compromise made with the government and the future of MSP. Can the farmers come back to Delhi once gone, I asked? Has Modi really won or the farmers? I received no reply.

But about then a hearty and white-bearded Jagdev Singh entered our tent. “We must follow our leaders at this juncture,” he said. I asked him who his leader was and was he part of a farm union? “No, I am completely independent. And once the farmers leave it will be hard for them to come back,” he said. 

‘Many leaders have political ambitions too.’ Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh

“Farmers have to be very careful so that even the leaders can’t compromise our goals. The committee is a deflection, many leaders have political ambitions too,” Jagdev added. 

As midnight fell, my three tent-mates fell asleep. I decided to take one last stroll. The music had not ended yet, but after a 10 minute walk, my night had. I snuck into the tent, having lived the last night at Singhu, merry and content. 

Nihang Leader Who Met Tomar Claims He Was Offered Money to Vacate Singhu Protest Site

Baba Aman Singh said that the money was offered to him not by the minister but by a “BJP leader”, according to reports.

New Delhi: Baba Aman Singh, the head of the Nihang sect whose members have been arrested for the gruesome Singhu border killing, has levelled a sensational allegation, claiming that he was offered Rs 10 lakh to vacate the site of the farmers’ protest.

The Nihang leader’s claim came after photos emerged on social media of his meeting with Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Farmer leaders had expressed concern about the meeting when the Tribune reported that he may have been part of efforts to “end” the farmers’ protest against the three farm laws.

A member of Aman Singh’s sect is the prime accused in the execution of Lakhbir Singh, who was accused by the group of ‘sacrilege’. This claim has been denied by Lakhbir Singh’s family, who have demanded a high-level probe. In total, four members of the Nirvair Khalsa-Udna Dal have been arrested in connection with the murder.

According to Indian Express, speaking on Tuesday, Aman Singh claimed, “I was offered Rs 10 lakh for leaving the farmers’ protest site; Rs 1 lakh was offered to my organisation also. But we can’t be bought.”

According to the Tribune, Singh said that the money was offered to him not by the minister but by a “BJP leader”.

As The Wire has reported, also present during the meeting were Sunil Kumar Singh, an MP from Jharkhand; Saurav Saraswat from Rajasthan; and Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, the all-India secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha.

Another controversial person who was present for the meeting was Gurmeet Singh ‘Pinky’, a former Punjab police officer who was dismissed after he was convicted in a murder case.

The newspaper reported that when Aman Singh was asked if he had discussed the meeting with the Union minister with the farmers’ unions, he said they did not have to talk to farmers. He said he did not go alone to meet Tomar and at least 10 members of his fauj were with him.

He added that the Nihang groups would decide on October 27 whether to stay at Singhu or not. In the aftermath of the killing of Lakhbir Singh, the Samyukt Kisan Morch had asked the Nihang groups to leave the site.

Also Read: Leader of Nihang Group Involved in Singhu Killing Met Union Agri Minister Tomar in July

The agriculture ministry did not respond to questions on the matter, according to Indian Express.

Gurmeet Singh told the newspaper that he knows Baba Aman Singh and confirmed that he went to the minister’s house in August. “But the purpose of [the] visit was different. I went for some personal work. The Nihang sect head was talking about farm Bills. But there was no offer of money made to him in front of me. I don’t know what happened between him and Tomar,” he said.

The Congress party, which heads the government in Punjab, has raised suspicions about the Singhu killing.

In a statement, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “In view of the recent disclosures about one of the Nihang leaders having already been in touch with the Government of India, minister for agriculture N.S. Tomar in particular, the lynching incident has now taken an entirely different turn.”

Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar claimed that “agencies” could be involved in the murder but did not elaborate what he meant.

“There is certainly something more than what meets the eye,” he said in a separate statement, adding, “The BJP has long been trying to tarnish the secular farmers’ struggle as a Sikh movement to term protesting Sikhs as militants,” Jakhar alleged, adding that the Punjabis are the country’s sword arm.

HC Seeks Centre, Delhi Govt’s Stand on Plea for Probe Into Attack on Protesting Farmers’ Camp

The plea has claimed that on January 29, the farmers’ camp at Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana, was attacked by some miscreants “with assistance and guidance of the police personnel” deployed there.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday sought a response from the Centre and Delhi government on a plea for an independent probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), into an alleged attack on farmers camped on the outskirts of the national capital in protest against agri laws on January 29.

Justice Mukta Gupta issued a notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi government’s home department and Alipur police station, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, seeking their stand on the petition.

The plea has claimed that on January 29, the farmers’ camp at Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana, was attacked by some miscreants “with assistance and guidance of the police personnel” deployed there.

The petition has alleged that a criminal complaint in relation to the attack was filed at Alipur police station against the miscreants and erring officers of the Delhi Police. However, no FIR was lodged.

The plea has also claimed that representations were sent to the CBI, the Chief Justice of India, National Commission for Women and National Human Rights Commission, requesting for proper inquiry to be conducted against the accused persons, but nothing happened.

Besides an independent court-monitored probe by SIT, the petition has also sought preservation of the video footage of the incident as the protest site was covered by police cameras.

Watch | What’s Happening At the Singhu Border After the Tractor March of January 26?

The Wire speaks to the people at Singhu Border, discussing the events that unfolded on Republic Day and the aftermath of it.

Ever since the chaotic tractor parade of January 26, farmers demonstrating at the Singhu protest site have faced a range of issues. From stone-pelting by purported “local groups” to facing internet shutdowns, the farmers at Singhu have witnessed a number of conflicts. Despite this, they continue to remain steadfast in their protest against the three new agricultural laws.

The Wire speaks to the people at Singhu Border, discussing the events that unfolded on Republic Day and the aftermath of it.

Watch | Journalist Mandeep Punia Speaks to ‘The Wire’ After His Release

The journalist who was detained by the Delhi Police at Singhu border, while he was working, speaks on independent work and how it is viewed in India.

On January 30, journalist Mandeep Punia was detained by the Delhi Police at Singhu border, while he was working.

A case was registered against Punia under various sections including 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

Punia speaks on the circumstances that led to his arrest.

‘Want to Be a Reporter? We’ll Make You a Reporter’: Mandeep Punia Recounts Day of Arrest

The independent journalist spoke to The Wire about the unique progression of events on the day of his arrest.

New Delhi: Journalist Mandeep Punia, who had been detained on January 30, at the Singhu border where he was working, was given bail on February 2.

While Delhi Police has claimed that Punia had pushed through barricades and manhandled police personnel, editors of Caravan magazine, where Punia is a contributor, had said that he was working on a report on what went into the sudden appearance of men who claimed to be locals at Singhu.

Speaking to The Wire, Punia noted that he was at Singhu at about 6 pm on January 30, when the Kisan Sangharsh Mazdoor Committee was conducting a press conference. Punia was with a colleague, Dharmender Singh, and was attending the conference when he spotted police officials abusing migrant workers attempting to cross the barricades at Singhu.

“Dharmender and I began filming this, but one of the police officers grabbed Dharmender and started dragging him away. I called out to the officer, saying that he cannot behave like this with a journalist,” Punia said.

Within moments more officers had arrived. “First, they rained blows on us. Then, they dragged us to a tent and beat us up even more. While they beat us, we heard them saying, ‘Do you want to be reporters? We will make you reporters’,” Punia said.

There was more verbal and physical abuse.

Mandeep Punia had scribbled on his leg while he was detained. Also visible in the photo is a scab from the beatings, he said. Photo: Mukul Singh Chauhan/The Wire

Later, Jatinder Meena, additional deputy commissioner of police Outer North Delhi, arrived in the tent. The officers filed out and Meena told the duo that a mistake had been made. Meena also offered medical aid for them and said they would be released, Punia recounted.

“We told him we will get our own medical aid. Getting a medical assessment done by them would mean that they would later put us in jail,” Punia said.

Punia also sought to remind Meena that he had met him in the morning of the same day regarding a report he was working on and that he was, after all, a journalist. “Meena agreed to this,” Punia said.

The two were led to a white Scorpio after this and driven away. “We arrived at a run-down building which I am not sure was a police station or not. The officers took off my winter jacket and turned on the ceiling fan in the room I was placed in. They began making absurd conversation amongst themselves saying, ‘Let’s show that he was arrested from a red light area,’ and so on,” he said.

Also watch | Journalists Protest Against Arrest of Mandeep Punia

At a point, a constable rushed into the room and informed the officers that a video of Punia’s arrest has gone viral in social media, he said. The officers left and returned 30 minutes later.

“I was taken to the Ambedkar Hospital in a private car. At 1.40 am, we arrived for a medico-legal. They tried influencing the doctor by telling him that I had a scuffle with the ‘staff,’ but the doctor told them that he had seen the video of my arrest and that he should be left alone to do his job,” Punia told The Wire.

At 3.30 am, Punia said, he was locked up at the Samaypur Badli Police Station. Repeated requests to call his friends, his editor or his wife, were denied, he said.

Punia also said that he was presented before the magistrate at a time when his lawyers were being told that his hearing was going to take place at a later time.

The full video of the interview can be found here.

Opposition Leaders Get Vocal for Farmers as Centre Carries Out Unprecedented Fencing Op

#FencinglikeChinaPak and #FarmersProtest trended on Twitter through the day as thousands highlighted the permanent barricades at the national capital’s borders.

New Delhi: The Centre has amped its offensive against protesting farmers by constructing concrete barriers surrounding the Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders – effectively transforming these two-month long agitation sites into open prisons.

Photographs of police personnel driving nails into roads, pouring concrete to build nearly six-feet tall barricades, placing heavy metal roadblocks, and fencing entire border areas with concertina wires have flooded social media over the last two days. 

Work to barricade the protest sites had started as farmers renewed their resolve to continue protesting after the Uttar Pradesh police had gheraoed the Ghazipur site on January 28, after issuing an ultimatum to vacate the site. Police withdrew it later after Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait’s emotional outburst breathed new life into the farmers’ protests. The protests had appeared to dissipate after the Republic Day parade fiasco but thousands of farmers soon arrived from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, amidst threats and attacks by Hindu rightwing leaders and activists.  

Barricades set up at the Delhi-UP Ghazipur border to stop farmers from marching towards the national capital in New Delhi, February 2, 2021. Photo: PTI/Vijay Verma

The extent of barricading can be gauged from the following description of the situation at the Tikri border.

“At Tikri, on the road towards Delhi, the police have overall set up a five-layer security system which begins right behind the main stage at the protest site. The first obstruction consists of two layers of iron barricades. After that, the police have joined rows of cement barricades by filling the space between them with concrete. Beyond that, the police have dug up the road and installed iron spikes. Then, there are large trailers and dumpers serving as the fourth layer. And finally, a set of iron barricades forms the fifth layer of hurdles,” reported Hindustan Times. 

The Delhi police’s deputy commissioner of police (outer) A. Koan said that the measures were taken to “instil confidence among the Delhiites” and to reiterate their “commitment to ensure the safety of life and property of citizens”.

Also read: Fortifications Are Feudal, They Do Not Have Any Place In a Democracy

His comment came in spite of the fact that a majority of farmers’ unions had already distanced themselves from the section which decided to break pre-approved routes, and reaffirmed that they would continue their protests peacefully until the three controversial farm laws are repealed. 

The barricading is not limited to physical fences either. On February 1, several Twitter accounts that had been posting on the farmers’ protests were withheld by the site itself, allegedly on orders of the Centre.

The enhanced security measures, even as mobile internet connectivity continues to remain suspended at all the three border sites, has now prompted a large section of opposition leaders to show renewed solidarity with the agitation.

Delhi Police constructing a concrete barricade at Ghazipur border during the farmers’ protest in New Delhi, January 31, 2021. Photo: PTI/Atul Yadav

On Tuesday, opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha demanded that there should be an immediate discussion on the farm laws and the impasse between the farmers and the Centre. The Congress, Left parties, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal and other opposition parties forced two adjournments of proceedings in the pre-noon session of the Upper House of parliament while demanding a discussion on the laws. 

Later, many opposition leaders took to Twitter to express solidarity with the farmers. 

In a bold response to the multi-layered barriers at the Delhi borders, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the prime minister has waged a war against India’s farmers. 

Taking up the Twitter move, Rahul Gandhi, in his characteristic line of criticism of the Union government said, “Modi style of governance – Shut them up, Cut them off, Crush them down.”

He also appealed to the Union government to “build bridges, not walls”.


Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted to say that food producers of India are being seen as a threat. 

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also visited Rakesh Tikait at Ghazipur on Tuesday. After his meetings he posted a picture of the two together. “The government should speak to farmers in a proper way. Ego will not help run the country,” Raut told the media.


Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the Union government’s alleged duplicity of inviting the farmers to talks and at the same time driving nails into roads to restrict their movement. 


Aam Aadmi Party went a step ahead and mockingly compared India with China while posting pictures of the security arrangement at the Delhi borders.  


Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, whose party pulled out of the Modi government on the issue of farm laws and who resigned from the Modi cabinet, appealed to the Centre to “listen” to the farmers, and said her party will continue to stand for farmers’ interests. 


Meanwhile, defying threats, thousands of farmers gathered at Landhadi toll plaza in Haryana as photos of the permanent barriers went viral on social media. 


Responding to the developments, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKA), an umbrella body of protesting farmers’ unions, said that the digging of trenches and nails on roads, and temporary internet suspension are part of “attacks” being organised by the government.

 “There can be no formal talks with the government until police and administration harassment of different kinds against the farmers’ movement is immediately stopped,” SKA said in a statement, while reiterating that they would settle for nothing less than the repeal of all the three laws.  

“…Increased barricading including trench-digging, fixing nails on the roads, barbed wire fencing, closing off of even internal roads, stopping of internet services, orchestrating protests and facilitating the same through BJP-RSS workers, diversion of trains and stopping them before destination stations are all part of multiple attacks being organised by the government, its police and administration against the protesting farmers,” it said.

“It appears that the government is extremely fearful of the rising tide of support for the ongoing protest from different states of India,” the statement read.

#FencinglikeChinaPak and #FarmersProtest trended on Twitter through the day, and thousands highlighted the unprecedented scenes at the national capital’s borders.

Among those to use the second hashtag was music icon Rihanna, who tweeted a CNN report of the internet shutdown. Rihanna’s follower count is above 100 million.


The government of India, however, stuck to its stand and went ahead with construction of barriers on Tuesday. Its supporters and leaders of the BJP, too, attacked farmers on social media, and defended the arrests of hundreds of farmers and multiple journalists who have been reporting on the issue. 

Fortifications Are Feudal, They Do Not Have Any Place In a Democracy

If police erect fortifications to deal with protests, it would mean that the ruling dispensation is either afraid of the people or regards them as enemies.

The sort of barricading which is being done at the borders of Delhi is unprecedented. This country has faced much more violent agitations and riots since Independence. However, never before in history, police had sought to turn a city into a medieval fortress or walled city.

According to media reports, roads are being dug up with cranes, iron grills and spikes are being cemented to the ground, layers of barricades are being laid out – with concrete poured between two barriers – and concertina wire and boulders placed to create more obstacles.

This is unprofessional at best and ridiculous at worst. In handling a law and order situation, barricading is required to channelise a mob in certain direction(s), to prevent the mob from crashing in some place, and to protect the police personnel from coming into physical contact with the mob at the very outset.

Barricading is supposed to be a strictly temporary measure.

Police use their buses to block protesters in central Seoul as they demand the renegotiation of the US beef import deal May 31, 2008. Photo: REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Except for the purposes mentioned above, the police cannot encroach upon the rights of common citizens to permanently block a road for traffic or dig it up, thereby damaging public property or incurring expenditure even if they restore it afterwards. Which law permits them to do so?

We are given to understand that a four-foot high and three-foot wide concrete wall has come up at the Singhu border.

Fortifications mean a complete disconnect with the people

This is not barricading; this is fortification. Fortifications are used only in insurgency-affected areas to protect the sentries at the camps of the security forces from firing by the insurgents. We do not have any insurgency in Delhi.

Fortifications do not have any place in a democracy. They are relics of a feudal age when the tyrannical and exploitative feudal lords, always apprehensive of an outburst of anger from a distraught people, kept themselves behind layers of physical barriers in their castles.

If police erect fortifications of this type to deal with protests, it would mean that the ruling dispensation is either afraid of the people or regards them as enemies.

They cannot take the plea of a vague thing called ‘intelligence input’. If they do have information that the agitators intend to indulge in violence, they must take action at the source itself. For example, prohibitory orders may be issued under Section 144 CrPC. Then, there does not seem to be any attempt at dialogue. Why cannot dialogue be initiated to explain it to the agitators that in view of the incidents on January 26, they must desist from any procession and if at all it has to be there in exercise of their democratic right to protest, it must be in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court?

Barricades set up at the Delhi-UP Ghazipur border to stop farmers from marching towards the national capital in New Delhi, February 2, 2021. Photo: PTI/Vijay Verma

What was wrong with the permission given to the tractor parade?

In fact, from a professional perspective, the very permission given for the tractor parade was ridiculously wrong. For that matter, no vehicles should have been allowed. If it is argued that the tractor is a symbol of the farmers, would they allow a parade by 12-wheel dump trucks if there is an agitation in the mining sector or a parade by JCBs/cranes if there is an agitation in the construction sector? This terrible folly must be a lesson for all police forces in the country.

It is difficult to believe that the police could be so naïve as to permit a rally by thousands of tractors and not expect any trouble by lumpen elements amongst them.

Also Read: As Police Restricts Movement Through All Means Possible, Farmers Plan Chakka Jam on Feb 6

Irregular and illegal weapons cannot be used by the police

We also saw photographs of some policemen holding what appeared to be metal pipes replete with metallic forearm guards in a two-hand grip with basket hilt. The metal pipe is obviously supposed to be swung as a lathi.

The simple issue is that senior officers are not allowed to ‘invent’ weaponry for the police nor are they empowered to permit their use.

Any implement used by the police has to be approved by the MHA on the recommendations of the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) after a study. Since no such approval exists for these metal pipes, it means they are irregular and illegal.

Central Armed Police Forces and many state police forces have been using polycarbonate pipes for lathis because they are more humane than bamboo lathis. A bamboo lathi, being a rigid object, transfers most of its energy into the body upon impact and thus can break bones or fracture skulls. A polycarbonate pipe, on the other hand, being flexible, absorbs a considerable part of the energy of impact and thus causes only superficial injury.

Police officials holding metal batons. Photo: Twitter/saurabh3vedi

How could police then use these metal pipes, which would be potentially lethal? 

Electronic Disabling Devices or electroshock weapons (popularly known as Tasers) have not been introduced in Indian police because Rule 89(3)(a) of the Arms Rules 2016 stipulates that they can be imported only if medical research reports on as many as eight points are produced, which prove that the technology used is neither lethal nor would cause permanent damage. The Gujarat Police is reported to have bought some Tasers and, in the absence of such medical studies, their introduction is illegal.

It has been argued that protesters had swords. The answer does not lie in responding with equally barbarous weapons themselves. The answer lies in invoking the law.

It has been very clearly laid down by the Supreme Court in 2004 in the case of The Commissioner of Police & Ors. vs Acharya Jagdishwarananda Avadhuta & Anr that “the participants to the procession shall not carry wooden bars, weapons, metal rods, weapons capable of inducing violence”.

How do they envisage things to play out?

This article is not a commentary on the farm laws or the agitation per se. However, one must wonder, what do the police expect from these fortifications? Do they intend to stand there and laugh as the tyres of the tractors are deflated on the spikes? Do they want ‘human waves’ to crash upon the rows upon rows of barricades and waste themselves?

Since, as discussed above, there are other ways of dealing with protests, such fortifications are liable to be viewed as a devious plot to demonise the farmers and paint them as people who are hell-bent upon disturbing the peace and tranquillity of the capital, and thus provide an excuse to use force upon them.

The excessive zeal or bhakti of officers must not be allowed to get the better of a professional approach. This is so childish and certainly not the way a 73-year-old democracy must behave with its people.

N.C. Asthana, a retired IPS officer, has been DGP Kerala and a long-time ADG CRPF and BSF. Views are personal. He tweets @NcAsthana.

Journalist Mandeep Punia, Held at Singhu Border, Gets Bail

The Delhi police had opposed Punia’s bail, saying that the he may “indulge in instigating the protesters.”

New Delhi: Journalist Mandeep Punia, who had been detained on Saturday, January 30, at the Singhu border while at work, was given bail on Tuesday, February 2.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Satvir Singh Lamba observed that the complainant, victims and witnesses are all police personnel – a fact that Punia had highlighted in his bail plea on January 31.

“There is no possibility that the accused and applicant can influence any of the police officials,” the judge said.

Punia was arrested by police on Sunday in an FIR registered under various sections including 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

Also read: ‘Shooting the Messenger’: Newspaper Editorials Slam FIRs Against Journalists

The court directed Punia not to leave the country without its permission.

The Delhi police had opposed Punia’s bail, saying that the he may “indulge in instigating the protestors and may create nuisance at the protest site with the group of different people and may hamper the investigation.”

The FIR against him states that he had come into physical contact with a constable and had attempted to move through barricades set up by police. A senior police officer told Indian Express that “he misbehaved” and that “there was some manhandling as well.”

However, editors of Caravan magazine, where Punia is a contributor, had said that he was working on a report on what went into the sudden appearance of men who claimed to be locals at Singhu on January 30, when he was arrested.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the alleged scuffle incident of present case is of around 6.30 pm. However, the present FIR was registered at around 1.21 am on the next day,” the court noted.

Punia had noted the seven-hour delay in his plea as well.

“Accused shall not indulge into similar offence or any other offence in the event of release on bail. Accused shall not tamper with the evidences in any manner,” the court told Punia, granting bail.

It further directed that the accused shall join the investigations as and when required by the investigating agency.

Punia will have to furnish bail bond worth Rs 25,000 and a surety of the same amount.

Bar and Bench had reported that Punia, in his bail plea, had highlighted that not having his press card on him was not reason enough to detain him.

Journalists had severely condemned his arrest and had staged a protest outside the police headquarters in New Delhi.

(With PTI inputs)

‘Not Carrying Press Card No Ground for Arrest,’ Says Scribe Sent to 14-Day Judicial Custody

Punia has also contended that no information was given to his family members until late on Saturday night on his detention, and that there was a seven-hour delay in filing the FIR.

New Delhi: Journalist Mandeep Punia who was detained on Saturday at the Singhu border while at work was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Sunday, January 31. His plea for bail was denied.

Delhi Police presented Punia before the Court 2 at Tihar jail where Metropolitan Magistrate Akhil Malik gave the order for his remand, LiveLaw has reported.

The court directed the investigating officer (IO), who was not present at the hearing, to file a formal response. His regular bail plea has been listed at the Rohini Courts today, February 1.

Bar and Bench has reported that Punia, in his bail plea, not only highlighted the fact that both the complainant and the victim are police officers in his case, but also that not having his press card on him was not reason enough to detain him.

Punia has also contended that no information was given to his family members until late on Saturday night on his detention.

The FIR was registered at around 1.21 am, despite him being accused of having been a part of the scuffle at around 6.40 pm the previous evening, the plea also says, highlighting the seven-hour delay.

In the plea filed through advocates Sarim Naved, Akram Khan and Kamran Javed, Punia noted that he had only been executing his duties as a journalist when the police detained him.

Another journalist, Dharmender Singh, who was also detained on Saturday was allowed to go after he displayed his identity card to police.

Also read: Delhi Police Arrest Journalist at Singhu Protest Site, Detain and Release Another

“Accused is a freelance journalist and not carrying press card can be no grounds for a case or arrest,” Punia said in his plea.

Punia has been charged under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), read with Section 34 ( acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, according to LiveLaw.

The FIR against him states that he had come into physical contact with a constable and had attempted to move through barricades set up by police.

A senior police officer told Indian Express that “he misbehaved” and that “there was some manhandling as well.”

Editors of Caravan magazine, where Punia is a contributor, have said that he was working on a report on what went into the sudden appearance of men who claimed to be locals at Singhu on January 30, leading to violence at the site.

Journalists on Sunday evening staged a protest outside police headquarters against Punia’s arrest. The protesters also held a small march near the area.