‘Time to do something to change system’: Story behind viral photo of woman with an SFI flag

A Tiranga Women Rally, to be held by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), was scheduled for 6.30 pm on Sunday. But before the rally could begin, around 6 pm, police started detaining protesters. At least 25 women were detained and Puzhakkal Pavithra was one of them.

“All of us were detained together. We were here for the SFI rally, but before it could even begin, we were detained,” said Pavithra on a call with The Indian Express while she was in the detention bus.

A day earlier, a picture of Pavithra, showing her running with an SFI flag in her hand, had gone viral. “I had no idea what was happening. We had started our march from AKG Bhavan in the afternoon. On our way toward Jantar Mantar, we heard some police officers shouting, ‘Bring the lady police officers’. We started running.”

Her fellow protesters were detained, but she ran in a different direction. “I didn’t realise that I was holding the flag,” she added.

“It is our fundamental right to protest and that was restricted by the government today. During the July protests, I could not be here. I was in Kerala on vacation. But this time, I knew I should be here. It’s about time that we do something about this system,” said the 20-year-old, a third-year student of Anthropology at Hansraj College, Delhi University.

Pavithra, originally from Kerala’s Palakkad district, has been part of the students’ outfit for two years now. Her mother, a bank employee, is a CPI(M) member in Palakkad. She is also the granddaughter of K V Chandran, a prominent Communist leader and a former Sarpanch of Mankara (Palakkad).

Recounting the sequence of events on Saturday, Pavithra said she, along with other SFI members, had been camping at H K S Surjeet Bhavan the previous night. Around 8 am on Saturday, as news of police putting up barricades began to spread, about three-quarters of the students were shifted to the A K G Lawn. Bread and tea were arranged for breakfast.

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“Around 11.30 am-12 pm, we started marching from AKG Bhavan. But soon after, many were detained and taken away,” she said.

“While security personnel tried to catch them, about half to three-quarters ran onto the road and started protesting. We were more than 200. Many were detained right at the start, then the number started thinning,” she said.

The photo that went viral, she said, was taken near Akashvani Bhavan. “After stepping out of A K G Bhavan, we were walking toward Jantar Mantar. The photo of me running was taken near Akashvani Bhavan … we were detained from there.”

Within that stretch alone, the protesters had to cross three to four barricades, she said. “At each barricade, the police were detaining people — grabbing whoever they could.”

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Police personnel had formed a human chain and surrounded them completely, Pavithra said, adding that they were subsequently forced into a bus. Some protesters were also beaten, she added.

There were nearly 25 people in the bus, she said. “I don’t know where they were taking us … as it got stuck in a traffic jam, me and around 10 others jumped out,” she said.

On Sunday, she stepped out to take part in the protest again, only to be detained again.

Mehina Fatima, Joint Secretary, SFI Delhi, said: “We were there for the rally and we were brutally dragged. Me and another woman got slapped.”

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Fatima said the women protesters “were surrounded by male police officers”.

They were taken to Mandir Marg police station and to Kapashera Border. They were later released around 9 pm.