This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri and Rinchen Norbu are joined by Newslaundry reporters Samarth Grover, Astha Savyasachi and Khushi Mehrotra to discuss the police crackdown on protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral roll revisions.

Drawing on their experiences reporting from the ground, the panel examines the detention and alleged manhandling of journalists, restrictions on public protests, and the legal battle over the right to dissent.

The discussion begins with the events of October 10, when thousands of protesters were detained in Delhi. Journalists covering the demonstrations faced restrictions, with barricades blocking routes and police repeatedly redirecting reporters. Samarth describes the experience as an “exercise in exhaustion”, with journalists repeatedly questioned, their credibility challenged, and their access to the protest restricted.

He also recalls how hard it was even to get close to the protest. Journalists were instructed to remain on the footpath, away from protesters being detained.

The conversation then turns to Astha’s experience of being detained. Her account raises serious questions about the risks journalists, particularly women, face while covering protests, amid allegations of police misconduct and the use of force against reporters.

The panel also discusses the growing tension between journalists, police personnel and the public. Samarth acknowledges that some independent content creators confront the police in ways designed to generate online attention, but argues that the problem extends beyond individual officers. 

“I wouldn’t see police as, you know, good cop, bad cop,” he says. “I think it’s a system, and it was very like, they had directions on how to deal with the media this time.”

The discussion shifts to the treatment of journalists by their own profession. Khushi expresses disappointment over the lack of solidarity from sections of the mainstream media when reporters were detained or allegedly assaulted. 

“I felt that there was a lack of solidarity from the entire journalist community when our people were getting detained,” she says. 

Rinchen Norbu draws a distinction between young journalists working on the ground and senior editors or television anchors who help shape the media agenda. 

“As a matter of principle, you should not heckle reporters on the ground, especially young reporters,” he says. But when it comes to “decision-makers, senior editors, anchors, people who actually set the agenda,” he argues, criticism is fair game.

The episode then turns to the legal challenges arising from the crackdown. Senior Supreme Court advocate Arundhati Katju and Swapnil Tripathi, who leads Charkha, the Centre for Constitutional Law at Vidhi, join the discussion on petitions concerning mass detentions, alleged custodial violence, restrictions on movement, metro station shutdowns, internet restrictions and the detention of journalists and opposition leaders.

Katju explains that the legal challenges have expanded as new incidents have unfolded. The petitions concern different questions, including alleged violations of court orders on metro shutdowns, the detention of MPs, alleged police violence and the case of a woman journalist who said a police officer groped her. The panel also examines the decision to remove Jantar Mantar from Delhi’s list of designated protest sites.

All this and more.