Young protesters in India are adopting creative tactics, from wearing Batman masks to using offline maps, to evade surveillance and sustain demonstrations amid a major security crackdown in New Delhi. As police step up efforts to contain the protests, tech-savvy students are using improvised methods to outmanoeuvre security operatives and…...
Young protesters in India are adopting creative tactics, from wearing Batman masks to using offline maps, to evade surveillance and sustain demonstrations amid a major security crackdown in New Delhi.
As police step up efforts to contain the protests, tech-savvy students are using improvised methods to outmanoeuvre security operatives and keep their demonstrations going.
With tens of thousands of security personnel deployed across strategic parts of the capital to prevent access to the main protest venue at Jantar Mantar, demonstrators have resorted to staging flash protests at other locations, catching authorities off guard.
The demonstrations have continued despite reports of thousands of arrests and detentions during weekend protests in the capital, with many of those detained subsequently released.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of India’s election commission chief, accusing the electoral body of manipulating voter lists to favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party. The commission has denied the allegations.
Meghnad S., a 36-year-old content creator, is on a mission that resembles a crowd-sourced rescue service.
Armed with little more than smartphones, his group of about 170 volunteers spent the weekend tracking police vehicles.
As soon as volunteers identified where detainees had been taken, information was fed into a digital dashboard matching them with volunteer drivers.
“Once we get to know where the detainees are, we have a WhatsApp group where we ask if any volunteer driver is around, what car they have, if it is stocked with food, water, fuel,” Meghnad told AFP.
Sometimes a doctor would join the ride.
“Once those checks are done, we try and get a doctor in our network to join the driver on the way, in case the detainees need medical assistance.”
Dodging surveillance cameras
Popular student leader Neha Bora became a viral sensation after a case of mistaken identity led to police detaining her lookalike.
The real Bora, 29, managed to slip through the security cordon and make a dash towards central Delhi before eventually being detained.
She later posted a photograph with her doppelganger, joking that the resemblance was “pure coincidence, not strategy”.
It was not just Bora — police were also seen struggling to catch up with sprightly young protesters on streets.
“They have big bellies, they can’t run,” a protester told reporters.
“They pant after running just 50 metres,” she said.
In other dramatic scenes, protesters were seen holding on to one another as they were dragged to waiting buses — only for them to later wriggle out from the driver’s seat or the rear window.
AFP also met several demonstrators who wore Batman masks to avoid being identified.
Bollywood actress Richa Chadha, meanwhile, offered other tips to avoid detention while filming herself drawing on her face with make-up on Sunday.
“Dear protesters, since you’re being filmed without your consent, try using make-up to dodge surveillance/facial recognition cameras,” she said on social media.
AFP