The Lucknow police made its most brutal effort yet to break the protests at the Clock Tower in Hussainabad which have been on since January 17.
At around 3pm, a heavy posse of policemen gathered around the heritage structure and pulled down banners and posters that had been put up. The local police was accompanied by the Rapid Action Force.
One eyewitness told THE WEEK, “The police had their faces covered with masks and handkerchiefs and did not wear name badges. They were brutal and hit women in their stomachs and on their backs.”
Three women fainted on the spot.
The police and the administration have made renewed efforts in the last week to ask the protesters to leave in face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Support for the protest itself has been dwindling, with business around the area being hit and also anger over the damage that the structure—the tallest clock tower in Asia—is facing.
“Some male social activists have been deliberately taking out processions and holding meetings at the protest site to rile the police,” said one protester who has been at the site almost every day. There have been two deaths—with one elderly woman succumbing to a heart attack and a young student catching pneumonia after being drenched in the rain. There has also been some discontent among the protesters as they feel some among them are only for the media coverage.
The police has registered FIRs against 17 named and 150 unnamed people who have been part of the protest.
The protesters have said that the police were even disrespectful of the Quran and also pulled off the bed sheets on which the women were sitting.
While the police retreated after large crowds gathered around the site, the women have said that they will continue their stir and that they were not afraid of the virus.
