Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge announced on Tuesday that he would look into how Bengaluru police handled the detention of anti-SIR protesters the previous day, an operation during which officers physically removed demonstrators and journalists covering the event were also caught up in the action. Kharge noted that the right to peaceful protest stands as a foundational principle of democratic governance.
Kharge stated in an X post that the right to peaceful protest must be honoured and kept free from interference, and separately noted that he had directed police to leave peaceful gatherings undisturbed. Kharge also asserted that the role of authorities extended beyond maintaining order to fostering conditions under which every citizen could voice opposition freely and without intimidation, adding that peaceful dissent posed no threat to a functioning democracy.
On Monday evening, DK Shivakumar posted a message on X addressed to the Bengaluru police commissioner, asking that the right to peaceful assembly be respected. In a separate communication, Kharge asked demonstrators to inform authorities in advance and coordinate with them, noting that the police were there to protect those exercising their right to speak, not to stand in their way.
Police took into custody scores of people — among them students, lawyers, activists, academics, and older residents — near KR Circle as they attempted to walk toward the chief electoral officer's office. Two demands were placed before the authorities: the abolition of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process for electoral rolls, and the stepping down of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
According to the activist organisation My Vote, My Right, officers took away placards held by demonstrators and placed a number of them under arrest before the planned march got underway. The organisation stated that people were placed onto buses after officers physically restrained, grabbed, and removed them. According to the organisation, officers were observed striking young demonstrators and grabbing at the clothing of female protesters.
During the unrest, photojournalists on the scene were physically attacked, and other members of the press faced forcible interference. Individuals operating without visible identification were observed among those who used force against both protesters and members of the press. The organisation reported that four officers physically assaulted one photojournalist, with three additional members of the press subjected to rough handling during the same incident.
A photographer present during the incident stated that an officer directed him to erase video he had captured showing students being physically handled by police aboard a bus. Continuing to document the arrests of women at the protest, the photojournalist and colleagues held their cameras in place — a choice that prompted an officer to request the footage be deleted, according to the photojournalist's later account. According to his account, officers then took hold of his mobile device, forced him to the floor, and discarded the phone nearby. A second officer took hold of his collar while others applied force from behind and struck him on the leg. The man was told by an officer that detention remained a possibility.
Online reaction to the episode included a post from Arpita Das — a writing faculty member at Ashoka University — who reported that her daughter and a companion had been taken into custody following their participation in the protest. Shivakumar posted his message on social media as a direct response to what Das had published earlier.
On the same day that arrests were being made in Bengaluru, both Shivakumar and Kharge were taking part in demonstrations against the SIR and against police action directed at protesters in Delhi.
Addressing reporters on Monday, DCP (Central) Akshay M Hakay stated that those who gathered near KR Circle had done so without notifying authorities or obtaining permission, which ran counter to high court directions requiring demonstrations to take place at designated venues. Officers had directed the group toward Freedom Park, though that instruction went unheeded, and those present were held in preventive custody before subsequently being let go, according to Hakay. Hakay described the conduct of officers during the incident as measured and appropriate.
Noting that tensions had arisen between police personnel and members of the press, Hakay characterised the incidents as unintended and attributed them to the pressures of a difficult situation. Kharge, speaking on Tuesday, stated that protecting the entitlement to peaceful protest falls within the established responsibilities of those who uphold public order.
