Human Rights Day Protest: Comrade Gaurav Freed After Detention, Exposes Abuse

New Delhi - A protest against the atrocities targeting minorities in India unfolded at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday evening. Regrettably, the peaceful demonstration turned violent, with rally participants subjected to beatings and detentions, and Gaurav Singh reported missing. Fortunately, the young student was revealed to be isolated from the other groups and taken to Mandir Marg Police Station. He was released later Sunday night.

The Mooknayak spoke to Avanti, a member of Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, who revealed the details.

Speaking about the current state of the young protester, Avanti said, "Gaurav Singh was released from Mandir Marg Police Station at 9:00 PM after multiple protestors reached the area to demand the freeing of the comrade. Fortunately, at the police station, he was only 'interrogated' and not abused, something we feared. But when he was being taken away, he was constantly being beaten up by approximately 10 armed men. He was punched in his eyes and struck with the back of their guns and lathis."

Avanti revealed that Gaurav was deliberately isolated from his fellow dissenters. They claimed, "While the protestors were divided into two groups and taken to opposite police stations - one in Dwarka and the other in Najafgarh - Gaurav was the sole person taken to Mandir Marg. The police lied about his whereabouts. They first told us that he was sent to Jaffarpur, but after we filed a missing person's report under Habeas Corpus, we were officially informed about him being near parliament."

Unfortunately, the end of the night was not the end of harassment for the students. Avanti said, "At night, before returning to our respective homes, we decided to de-stress at Connaught Place. Suddenly, three policemen in civilian dress came up to us and started harassing Gaurav again. They said it is their duty to make sure not a lot of people organize together. On being told that it is only applicable under section 144, which is not currently imposed at Connaught Place, they again threatened to detain us. While we were getting into the metro, three constables were put on us for surveillance. We were followed until we left the area."

Gaurav Singh, who is a student at Delhi School of Journalism and a member of Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, was taken away by the authorities without any good reason during the Sunday protest. According to Badal from BSCEM, they tried calling his phone, but first, someone hung up on them, and then they said they found two phones on the street, which was a lie as Gaurav's phone was in his bag. The protestors then filed a missing person's report at Jaffarpur police station.

The protest was organized by Campaign Against State Repression to raise voices against gross human rights violations in the country. The nation has seen a rise in anti-Dalit and Adivasi sentiments and a number of hate speeches against minority communities. December 10 , was supposed to be a special day because it's the 75th anniversary of the very important Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This is a significant promise from countries all over the world. The promise is that every person, no matter where they're from or what they believe, has certain rights just because they're human.

Back in 1948, a group of countries said this out loud at the United Nations in Paris. They made a list of basic rights that everyone should have, like the right to be treated fairly, no matter your race, religion, gender, or where you come from. This was a big deal because, for the first time, it said that these rights should be protected everywhere, for everyone. It is a global agreement that human beings should be treated as human beings.

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