India's Crackdown on Gen Z Protesters: Journalists Beaten, Thousands Jailed

Indian police are beating peaceful protesters, dragging them into buses, and jailing thousands without cause, Human Rights Watch said. Authorities are also detaining journalists and shutting down the internet to stop coverage of growing demonstrations. The protests began on September 25, 2026, after the Indian Express newspaper reported irregularities in the country's voter list revision process. The protests are led by the Gen Z Cockroach Janta Party, opposition parties, student groups, and civil society organizations. They demand the resignation of India's top election official, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and an end to the voter list revision. The Election Commission of India has deleted more than 130 million names from voter rolls since June 2025 under a process called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Critics say the process is arbitrary and lacks transparency. They fear it will strip voting rights from millions of people, especially Muslims, other religious minorities, women, and the poor. Protest leaders and opposition parties claim the commission manipulated the lists to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As protests grew in October, police arrested and assaulted demonstrators daily. They took detainees to undisclosed locations and later released many of them. Those detained include journalists and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and four former chief ministers. On October 10 and 11, police detained at least 30 journalists covering the protests. Four journalists' organizations condemned the actions, saying reporters were "bundled into buses" used for protesters, and that police seized phones and equipment. Three female journalists said Delhi police officers sexually harassed them. A journalist from Caravan magazine said police hit him on the head, slapped him, and struck him with a rifle butt while he recorded officers detaining a protester. "My press card was hanging by my neck but they still dragged me into the bus, ripping my shirt buttons," a 31-year-old journalist told Human Rights Watch. He was held in a bus on October 10 and released only after the bus overheated and caught fire. "We could smell the fumes and had to shout at them to get us out," he said. John Brittas, a member of parliament, said in a letter to India's chief justice that police "assaulted me and pinned me to the seat." On October 10, the Cockroach Janta Party called for a protest at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in Delhi. Authorities deployed over 40,000 security forces, canceled trains, shut down 43 metro stations, and suspended mobile internet. Police took three party leaders into custody aboard an airplane after it landed in Delhi. They dragged protesters from trains and buses traveling to Delhi and placed some youth leaders under house arrest. Air India has asked the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security how security forces entered its aircraft without permission. On October 9, a police officer entered a Delhi mosque during Friday prayers and warned Muslims against joining "unnecessary protests." The next day, police entered a Sikh temple in central Delhi to detain protesters seeking refuge there. Citizens for Fraternity-Bharat, a civil society group, questioned why police entered religious sites and called for an independent inquiry. On October 11, India's Supreme Court directed authorities to stop illegally detaining peaceful protesters, restore internet services, and allow people and traffic to move freely. So far, authorities appear to have ignored these orders. A 26-year-old journalist told Human Rights Watch he saw at least three instances where BJP supporters and police chased protesters together. "It is collaborative," said the journalist, who covered the protests on October 10. "The police looked on and did not stop the violence." A 27-year-old female journalist said about five men, some wearing saffron scarves, beat protesters and targeted female journalists. "They were shouting at us, mocking us, and showing us the middle finger," she said. "I saw two policemen laughing while the right-wing goons were kicking and beating protesters." The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over the mass detentions and urged the government to engage in dialogue. India's Ministry of External Affairs called the statement "unwarranted" and "an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of India." Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government to direct security forces to follow international standards, including the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. "Indian authorities should allow people to protest peacefully by resuming transport services, removing unnecessary barricades, restoring the internet, and ensuring media freedom," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are fundamental rights protected under international human rights law that India's leaders claim to uphold."