Union Minister Kiren Rijiju claims no serious injuries occurred during police action against protesters on July 20, but medical records from Safdarjung Hospital show a journalist covered the protest with 26 small, round wounds consistent with pellet strikes and videos have shown security personnel using lathis and assaulting students.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has claimed that no person protesting against the alleged irregularities in competitive exams was seriously injured in the police action in Delhi on July 20. However, this contradicts a Right to Information response stating that 10 persons were injured by pellets during the same protest march to Parliament.
In an interview with ANI, Rijiju claimed: ‘Not a single person was harmed, not a single person suffered a broken bone. Not even one protester is in the hospital with a serious injury.’
However, medical records from Safdarjung Hospital show that a journalist covering the protest had 26 small, round wounds that doctors described as ‘consistent with pellets striking’ the right side of his body.
The journalist told Scroll that he saw security personnel deploying pellet guns and was hit while trying to move away. This was the first time that pellet guns had been used in Delhi against unarmed protesters.
Furthermore, several videos shared online after the July 20 crackdown on protesters have shown security personnel and persons wearing plain clothes assaulting students with lathis. Videos also emerged of police officers slapping women and hitting them on their private parts.
Dozens were injured in the police action.
The protests against alleged mismanagement of several competitive examinations had begun on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign staged a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union education minister at the time.
On July 20, thousands joined the protest. This came two days after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks, to hospital.
Source:
Scroll.in
