Amnesty says police used excessive force in India protests

Amnesty International has accused Indian police of using excessive force, including electric shock devices and pellet guns, against youth-led protests that led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month. The rights group's report, released Monday, says it verified witness testimony and visual evidence confirming the use of "pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas launchers, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against protesters" in Delhi and Bihar, and two instances of "unlawfully using lethal force against a crowd" in Bihar's Siwan district, though no one was killed. Source: The Hindu Source: Euronews

Conflicting accounts

Delhi Police have disputed the findings, telling the Supreme Court they used force only after protesters "resorted to violence," and that "anti-social elements masquerading as aggrieved students" caused "grievous injuries" to security forces. Source: The Hindu Amnesty, however, characterized the response as "state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control," while acknowledging "isolated incidents of protesters throwing stones." Source: Euronews The Supreme Court has set up a panel to investigate violence by both police and demonstrators. Source: The Hindu

Broader movement

The protests, triggered by leaks of the NEET-UG exam, were led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and evolved into a wider movement over unemployment and education reform. Source: Al Jazeera The CJP has now launched a "Fix the Schools" campaign, auditing government-run schools, which has faced pushback from BJP leaders and police action. Source: Al Jazeera In West Bengal, a CJP volunteer's father died after an alleged assault by BJP workers, which the state's chief minister dismissed as "criminals with no BJP connection." Source: Al Jazeera The movement has also prompted Modi to adopt a more casual style on Instagram to appeal to Gen Z. Source: BBC