Hospital confirms pellet gun injuries to 10 protesters on July 20
Lady Hardinge Medical College confirms injuries to ten protesters from pellet guns.
Lady Hardinge Medical College has clarified in response to an RTI that ten protesters were injured by pellet guns during the march to Parliament in Delhi on July 20. The hospital provided this response following an RTI request filed by Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale.
According to a report by The Hindu, Gokhale stated on Monday that he received a response from Lady Hardinge Medical College indicating that nine people injured by pellet guns were brought to the hospital after the protest. Safdarjung Hospital also reported one case of pellet injury on July 20.
It is noteworthy that a day after the march against alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, Delhi Police had denied the use of pellet guns on protesters. However, The Hindu reported on July 28, citing an entry in the Rapid Action Force's general diary, that RAF personnel fired pellet guns on the orders of a Delhi Police officer. This incident was the first reported use of pellet guns against unarmed protesters in Delhi. Two injured individuals, Prashant Kumar Singh and Sheikh Irshad Mansoor, have approached the Supreme Court seeking a ban on the use of pellet guns for crowd dispersal during protests.
An entry in the general diary filed by the Rapid Action Force (RAF) at the Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi also revealed that on July 20, two rounds of firing with pellet guns were conducted on the orders of a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank officer. According to a report by The Hindu, the entry was made in the general diary at 1:24 PM on July 20. The diary entry disclosed that during the protest by the 'Cockroach Janata Party', on the orders of the DCP, the RAF's Deputy Commandant fired 55 rounds of non-electrical shells, 15 rounds of electrical shells, five tear smoke grenades, and two rounds of ballistic cartridges with plastic pellets to control the crowd.
Gokhale stated in an X post,
he is still awaiting responses from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi. “What kind of a mockery of democracy is this, where the police use pellet guns, lie about it, and then refuse to disclose the number of victims when questioned,”
Gokhale wrote on social media,
He also questioned why the BJP-led central government has not yet released the confirmed number of people injured by pellet guns during the July 20 protest.
Gokhale said,
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been using the police and central agencies like his personal mafia. And now he is hiding from Parliament.” The Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces come under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Opposition parties have demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement in Parliament regarding the police action on youth protests. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated on Monday that Shah is ready to respond to the protests over alleged examination irregularities and the police action, provided the opposition does not disrupt the proceedings of the House.
It is to be noted that the peaceful protest by students began on June 6 at Jantar Mantar. Initially, the protest started under the banner of the 'Cockroach Janata Party'. However, it later transformed into a spontaneous nationwide movement of students and Gen Z. The protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanded the resignation of then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged mismanagement of competitive examinations. Thousands joined the protest on July 20. Two days earlier, the police forcibly hospitalized activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks.
The police took action on the march towards Parliament. Several protesters were injured following the use of lathicharge, tear gas, and pellet guns by the police. After the police action, protests erupted in other parts of the country as well. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from the post of Education Minister on July 25.