- Police at Jantar Mantar did not wear identification tags.
- Prevented online targeting following violent July 20 protests.
- Officers received assurances against action for removing tags.
- Common in conflict zones, this practice drew public criticism.
Police personnel deployed at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls did not wear name tags as a “deliberate measure” to prevent them from being identified and targeted on social media, officials aware of the matter said.
The measure was adopted after police personnel were targeted on social media following violence during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) march on July 20, the officials said.
The CJP had called the march after weeks of protests and a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. Thousands of demonstrators attempted to march towards Parliament, demanding the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination paper leaks. Police used tear gas and baton-charged protesters as they attempted to breach multiple layers of barricades. Videos circulated on social media appeared to show several protesters being beaten, while the Delhi Police maintained that force became necessary after demonstrators turned violent.
ALSO READ | ‘Govt Planning To Arrest Dipke, Ranka’: Saurav Das Calls For Mass Mobilisation From October 10
Police Questioned Over Missing Name Tags
On the first day of protests against Kumar on Friday, several protesters photographed and filmed police personnel while questioning them about the absence of name tags. In videos circulated on social media, some personnel said their tags had fallen off amid the commotion, while others said they had forgotten to attach them.
Some police personnel said they had deliberately removed the tags to prevent them from coming off, while many declined to explain their absence, reported Hindustan Times.
Officials aware of the matter said the decision was part of lessons learnt from the July 20 protests, when police personnel involved in crowd management were targeted and identified on social media.
Senior officers directly involved in crowd management told their superiors during review meetings of the July protests that they and their families had been identified and targeted online for carrying out their duties.
“Many officers said their families were called out by friends or in social circles. Some officers even reported that their families had been deliberately targeted by colleagues at work and through memes on social media,” a police officer aware of the deliberations said.
ALSO READ | Supreme Court To Hear Pleas On Gyanesh Kumar’s Suspension Over ‘Unilateral’ Decisions Today
Officers Assured Over Removal Of Tags
The officers involved in crowd management were subsequently assured that no action would be taken against personnel for removing their name tags if they were performing their duties within the law.
“While most IPS [Indian Police Service] officers, who are easily identified by the public, chose to retain their tags at Jantar Mantar this time, many junior personnel were allowed to be on the ground without wearing their tags,” the officer said.
He added that many influencers were posing as media personnel and deliberately targeting police officers.
Security forces have followed a no-name-tags strategy in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism, the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. In photographs of anti-insurgency operations, the faces of special forces personnel are also blurred.
The removal of name tags in Delhi drew criticism as police faced accusations of excesses while quelling the July protests. Experts said there are no written rules mandating whether personnel must wear or remove their name tags, while noting that avoiding identification has long been an operational practice in conflict zones.
Many people in civilian clothes claiming to be police were also caught attacking protesters during the July demonstration. Influencers have identified some of these civilians as people who were not from the Delhi Police.
Self-styled influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 38-year-old man during the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
