Listen to this article:

The Delhi Police reports to the Union home ministry, and the Rapid Action Force – a branch of the Central Reserve Police Force – unleashed on the students in the nation capital on Monday also comes under Union home minister Amit Shah’s ministry. Consequently, the accountability for the vicious police action on protesting peaceful students on Monday, July 20 lies squarely with Shah.

Despite mounting evidence of brutality and widespread demands for executive accountability, he remains conspicuously silent. Because the chain of command ends at his desk, the answers to the troubling questions raised by this crackdown will have to be provided by Shah. They cannot come from the social media handles of the Delhi Police or unnamed “sources” cited by some reporters. The buck stops at Shah and he owes the answers to the students, and the country at large.

1. Why were water cannons not used?

Standard crowd control protocols in India dictate a graded response, utilising the least harmful deterrents first. Water cannons are the primary non-lethal method which are supposed to be used to disperse crowds before escalating to physical force. Bypassing this crucial step suggests an immediate escalation to violence rather than an attempt to peacefully manage the assembly. Shah must explain why this standard operating procedure was abandoned on Monday.

2. Why were lathis with nails used?

Reports and visual evidence from the ground show that some batons wielded by security personnel were embedded with nails. Modifying a standard riot-control tool in this manner intentionally transforms it into a lethal weapon capable of causing severe lacerations. Deploying such barbaric implements against unarmed students, including young women, violates basic human rights and established police guidelines. The home minister must explain who authorised the modification of these batons and their usage against the students.

3. Who ordered the firing of pellet guns?

Pellet guns are meant to be a weapon of absolute last resort, as they are notorious for causing permanent vision loss, physical injuries and severe trauma. Multiple medical reports and testimonies from injured protesters confirm the extraction of metallic pellets, contradicting denials by the Delhi Police. The government is aware that this weapon was used as Union health minister JP Nadda has met one of the victims in hospital. The deployment of this........

© The Wire