Masihuzzama Ansari
VARANASI—The15-year-old Tanveer’s Alam’s head was severely injured in a vicious and brutal police baton charge at a rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Prime Minister Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi on December 20, 2019. Tanveer has not returned to normal even after a long and expensive treatment. Doctors say Tanveer’s brain has severely weakened because of the injuries suffered on the head.
Tanveer was not part of any demonstration, yet the police caught him in the street and beat him up badly. According to the family, so severe was the beating that part of Tanveer’s head cracked up in two and hung to one side. More than 55 stitches had to be applied, and his treatment continues.
Tanveer’s family is financially weak. His father Salim does sari weaving work and has spent lakhs of rupees on Tanveer’s treatment.
Tanveer’s father told India Tomorrow that he had not received any government help.
Also, though more than two years have passed since the incident, the family has not registered any case regarding this incident.
Tanveer is the eldest of four siblings. He has two younger brothers and a younger sister.
Talking to India Tomorrow, Tanveer’s father Salim said, “We have spent more than Rs 3 lakh in the last two years for our son’s treatment. According to the doctor, my son’s brain has become weak due to the severe injuries on the head.”
He explained, “My son no longer behaves normally. He has become very irritable. Doctors have reported that the brain has shrunk due to the injury.”
He said, “Tanveer had to be kept in the trauma centre for about a month. The condition was very critical. Only Allah, the Almighty, has saved him.”
Surprisingly, Tanveer was not a part of any demonstration. Yet, due to his Muslim identity, he was brutally beaten by the police, due to which Tanveer and his family have been facing financial crisis for two years due to treatment.
The family said, “While we were picking up the injured, I saw my son lying down and bleeding heavily. When we took him to the Trauma Centre, we had lost all hope of his survival.”
An elderly man from Bajardiha said, “The police mercilessly beat even young children very badly. Police targeted children between the ages of 8, 10 and 15 who were not part of the protest.”
The police brutally beat up several children who had gone out of their houses for work and purchases and could not reach their homes in the chaos caused by the violent baton charge. The death of eight-year-old Sagir and severe injury to 15-year-old Tanveer in Bajardiha in the police attack also confirms that the police acted mercilessly, targetting innocent children and beating them up viciously.
The family of Tanveer told India Tomorrow, “Work had stopped in the lockdown, and there was huge impact because of the two Covid-19 waves in 2020 and 2021. The family became very weak financially, and it was tough to pay for the medical treatment.”
There are dozens of stories of police brutality at a rally against the controversial and draconian citizenship law in Bajardiha (Banaras). Unfortunately for all these victims of Bajardiha, none of these stories have been recorded anywhere. In Bajardiha, one person was killed, and dozens were injured in the violent police baton charge.
Several injured persons became financially weak due to expenses incurred because of prolonged treatment, and some could not survive and succumbed to their injuries. Some are still in trouble with police filing alleged fake cases.
Tanveer’s father said, “My son got injured in the police baton charge and got deep wounds. Tanveer was not even involved in the demonstration. He had just taken a small child along with him and was passing on the street and got seriously injured in the police baton charge.
He said, “After the police lathi charge, we did not know Tanveer had gone out. We were carrying the injured in the courtyard of the house with several of them unconscious and some of them bleeding heavily.”
An eyewitness told India Tomorrow that “the demonstrators were marching peacefully and then the police suddenly attacked.”
He stated, “On December 20, 2019, hundreds of people left their homes protesting the CAA. It was Friday, around 4 pm, people were moving towards the road and then the police suddenly charged with batons.
An 8-year-old boy named Sagir was killed in the police baton charge.
Police cordoned off a street and attacked the peaceful CAA protestors
Talking to India Tomorrow, locals alleged that “the police surrounded the street on both sides and ‘attacked’ while the protesters had gathered for peaceful protest.”
The people of Bajardiha also alleged that “some of the people who were lathi-charging at the peaceful demonstration did not look like police but belonged to some other organization.”
People reported that “the protesters were not given a chance to flee, resulting in injuries to many people.”
Police accused of breaking CCTV cameras
Speaking to India Tomorrow, a resident of Bajardiha said that after the baton charge, the police targeted the houses where CCTV cameras were installed.
Police destroy evidence of brutality
On condition of anonymity, a young man told India Tomorrow, “In the dead of the night, police with the help of bamboo ladders entered many houses where CCTV cameras were installed.
They either destroyed the cameras or took them away.”
Another young man told India Tomorrow, “Many people had made videos of police brutality. These videos clearly showed how the police attacked the peaceful demonstrators and injured scores of people. But the police forced and pressurised the people to delete these videos from their mobile phones and the CCTV cameras.”
Another eyewitness said that “The police also smashed CCTV cameras installed at various places on the streets. Also, police forced people to delete videos people had taken of the police vandalism and hooliganism.”
