‘Guantanamo on wheels: Delhi Police are torturing protesters’
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New Delhi: DYFI All India president and Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim has accused Delhi Police of detaining and torturing protesters inside a moving vehicle that he described as a mobile Guantanamo prison and torture camp.
Rahim made the allegations while showing media personnel footage from inside a police vehicle designed like a jail. He compared the facility to Guantanamo Bay, the notorious US detention centre associated with human rights violations and torture, and questioned whether such treatment was compatible with India’s claim of being the “Mother of Democracy”.
According to Rahim, protesters are taken into custody, dropped at different locations along the way and subsequently forced into the vehicle, where they face alleged abuse. He also showed footage purportedly recorded by fellow activists inside the torture vehicle, identifying a person standing naked in the video as DYFI leader Jaick C Thomas.
Rahim further alleged that a Member of Parliament was dragged away by police while speaking to the media. He referred to John Brittas being unwell during the incident and questioned whether freedom of expression still existed in India, alleging that the country was witnessing an undeclared Emergency.
He warned that the footage would remain a lasting stain on India’s democratic record and challenged the authorities to justify the alleged treatment of protesters.
Despite the alleged crackdown, Rahim asserted that arrests and imprisonment would not weaken the protesters’ resolve. He vowed that the movement would continue on the streets and that the struggle would not end.