India: Police used excessive force during protests, Amnesty says

Indian police employed excessive force, including pellet guns and electric shock devices, against youth-led protests that ultimately compelled the education minister to resign last month, Amnesty International stated on Monday. The human rights group's report challenges the police's account, which claimed force was only used after protesters initiated violence. This comes after India's Supreme Court established a panel to investigate violence by both police and demonstrators.

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The weapons were deployed in a manner that breached international law and standards and domestic policing guidelines.

Demonstrations in the capital, New Delhi, erupted following the leak of the national medical entrance test. The protests turned violent on July 20 when thousands attempted to march toward parliament. Amnesty reported that verified witness testimony and visual evidence confirmed the use of "pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas launchers, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against protesters" in Delhi and the eastern state of Bihar. The group also verified two instances of police officers "unlawfully using lethal force against a crowd" in Bihar's Siwan district, though no fatalities occurred.

Amnesty asserted that the weapons were deployed in a manner that violated international law, standards, and domestic policing guidelines. While acknowledging "isolated incidents of protesters throwing stones," Amnesty concluded that the "heavy-handed response was state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control."

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the heavy-handed response was state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control.

Delhi Police had previously told the Supreme Court that force was used only after protesters "resorted to violence," alleging that "anti-social elements masquerading as aggrieved students" caused "grievous injuries" to security forces. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in outside a Delhi police station with a 19-year-old protester who claimed to be injured by pellets during the July 20 demonstration. Gandhi demanded a police investigation into the incident, and officers subsequently registered a case regarding the complaint.

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resorted to violence

The protests, initially led by the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), expanded beyond anger over exam irregularities to encompass broader concerns about unemployment, youth opportunities, and what critics describe as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's increasingly authoritarian governance. These demonstrations represented the most significant challenge Modi has faced since securing a third term in 2024.

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masquerading as aggrieved students