Bombay bishop urges accountability after Delhi protest crackdown

MUMBAI, Maharashtra (Indian Catholic News) — Auxiliary Bishop Savio Fernandes of Bombay condemned the police response to a student protest in New Delhi, calling for an independent inquiry and insisting that “No government is above accountability” in a healthy democracy.

In a July 21 statement titled “A Black Day for Democracy,” Bishop Fernandes said the events at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, India’s protest square, on July 20 “should trouble the conscience of every Indian who believes in democracy.”

Referring to videos circulating online, he said they “appear to show police using force against young people” who “seem to have been participating in a peaceful, Gandhian-style demonstration.”

“If those videos accurately reflect the events in their full context,” he said, they “raise serious questions about the proportionality of the police response and the protection of constitutional rights.”

Thousands of people gathered again in New Delhi July 21, a day after police used batons and tear gas to disperse supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, which is demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Tens of thousands had attempted to march to Parliament despite a police ban. At least 60 protesters and 118 police officers were injured, while authorities detained 70 demonstrators.

The bishop said the demonstrators were exercising what they believed was their constitutional right to peaceful assembly while expressing concerns over alleged flaws in India’s education system, including reported examination irregularities and paper leaks.

He said the protest reflected the frustration of students who had endured “prolonged uncertainty, anxiety and emotional strain” and that “the police response appeared, to many observers, to involve the use of force rather than dialogue.”

Bishop Fernandes said the controversy extended beyond a single protest, describing “a deeper human tragedy” linked to examination disruptions that have affected students’ futures and mental well-being.

While noting that “every such tragedy” requires careful investigation, he said “few would dispute that repeated controversies surrounding examinations have caused significant psychological and emotional distress for many students.”

“A confident democracy does not fear peaceful protest,” he wrote. “It engages with it. It listens, answers difficult questions, and accepts responsibility when institutions fail.”

Call for inquiry and accountability

The bishop also raised concerns over reports that attempts may have been made to provoke sections of the gathering or disrupt the demonstration.

“Such allegations deserve an independent and impartial investigation,” he said, adding that “any individual found responsible for violence or provocation, regardless of political affiliation, should be held accountable.”

Among the most troubling scenes, Fernandes said, were images showing activist Sonam Wangchuk, a prominent education activist who has been on a prolonged hunger strike in support of the students’ demands, being detained by police while “white sheets reportedly appeared to obstruct public view.”

“Those images have left many citizens asking why transparency appeared to give way to secrecy at a moment when public accountability was most needed,” he said.

Bishop Fernandes argued that the government should have responded “with humility rather than defensiveness” and should have invited protest representatives for dialogue instead of allowing events to escalate.

He called for “an independent inquiry into the events” and said that if “excessive force was used against peaceful protesters, those responsible must be identified and held accountable.”

“The Government owes the nation more than explanations,” he wrote, urging authorities to acknowledge students’ suffering, apologize if wrongful force was used and ensure that “peaceful democratic protest is respected rather than suppressed.”

Closing his statement, Fernandes said, “Governments exist to serve the people, not the other way around.” He added: “The strength of a democracy is measured not by how loudly it celebrates itself but by how it responds when its citizens peacefully question those in power.”

Read the statement.