IPS officer Abhinav Kumar writes: From Jantar Mantar protest, lessons for police

Mass detentions followed by legal action against dozens of protestors send a message, but so does the pace and proportionality with which those cases are handled afterward. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar) At the best of times, policing protests in democratic societies is a tricky business. No amount of training, equipment and manpower can adequately prepare a police force to take on a crowd of young student protestors who are fired by the recklessness and certainty of youthful idealism. The recently concluded protests at Jantar Mantar organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) hold many lessons for all serving police personnel. The scenes from Central Delhi over the past week — tear gas drifting over Jantar Mantar, baton charges near Parliament, hundreds injured on both sides of the barri