NEW DELHI, July 27 (Reuters) – Indian authorities have suspended a policeman for firing rounds in the air from an assault rifle to disperse student protesters in an eastern state over the weekend, the latest flashpoint in a wave of youth protests that forced the federal education minister to resign.
Police have been accused of using excessive force at the protests, including beating students with canes and firing tear gas to push back tens of thousands marching to parliament in the capital New Delhi on July 20.
In videos uploaded to social media by students and others, and confirmed by police, a policeman in riot gear can be seen running towards a group of protesters in the eastern city of Siwan in Bihar state on Saturday, pointing an AK-47 at them and firing at least three shots in the air.
Senior Bihar police official Nilesh Kumar said no one was wounded and that a constable, part of an intelligence unit “which deals with dreaded, hard-core criminals”, had been issued the assault rifle.
“The AK-47 was used by the constable wrongly. It cannot be justified in any way,” Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters on Monday. “He used it wrongly, because they were students. There was no need of doing so. That is why he has been suspended. All sorts of actions will be taken against him.”
The protests were triggered by the leakage of question papers for a national medical college entrance exam in May, taken by more the 2 million students, and forcing a re-test. There are other issues, mainly youth unemployment and fear among the young that AI could take their jobs in places such as IT back offices that India is known for, analysts say.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s education minister resigned over the exam paper leaks on Saturday following nearly five weeks of protests by the youth Cockroach Janta Party.
OPPOSITION RAKES UP ISSUE IN PARLIAMENT
“It is one of the gravest assaults on democracy in our history. Never before have students been beaten, dragged, and treated like criminals for raising their voices,” opposition Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in parliament.
“In Bihar, reports indicate use of AK-47 against students. Those responsible cannot escape accountability.”
Government ministers did not respond before both houses of parliament were adjourned amid a noisy row over the issue.
Criticism of the police actions has been widespread.
“It will not be an exaggeration to say that public space for expressing divergent opinion is shrinking in India,” Supreme Court Judge Ujjal Bhuyan said in a speech on Saturday, in a rare such comment by a sitting judge of the country’s highest court.
“Right to express one’s views and to demonstrate peacefully are fundamental freedoms of the citizens.”