AISA has strongly condemned the brutal assault on its Delhi State President Saiyed by the Delhi Police on March 30, calling it a shocking instance of state-sponsored repression on student activists. Saiyed, along with AISA leaders, had gone to Barakhamba Road Police Station regarding the detention of some students when SHO Mahavir Singh assaulted him.
In a statement, AISA said that the modus operandi of the Delhi Police stands exposed as a “terrifying, state-sanctioned machinery designed to hunt student activists.” The organisation pointed to a series of recent incidents, including rape threats to Delhi University activists at Maurice Nagar Police Station on March 13 and violent attacks on JNU students by plainclothes goons under police protection, as evidence of a growing pattern of repression.
AISA stated that the Delhi Police is acting as a “private militia of the RSS-BJP” and said that such actions amount to an attack on democratic rights and dissent. It also held the ruling BJP responsible for giving the police a “free hand” to unleash violence. AISA has demanded the immediate suspension of SHO Mahavir Singh and strict action against all those involved in the assault.
