India’s youth shift tactics as police clamp down on election protest

From Batman masks to offline maps, young Indian protesters have responded to one of New Delhi’s toughest security crackdowns with improvised tactics designed to evade surveillance and keep demonstrations alive.

As police and protesters engage in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, social media savvy students are turning ingenuity into a form of resistance.

With tens of thousands of security personnel deployed in key parts of the capital to block the main protest site of Jantar Mantar, protesters turned to holding flash demonstrations elsewhere, taking authorities by surprise.

Protesters have been undeterred by thousands of reported detentions during demonstrations over the weekend in the capital. Many have since been released.

They are seeking the resignation of the head of India’s election commission, accusing it of manipulating voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party — which the constitutional body has denied.

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.

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