Been keeping this to myself for too long, for no reason at all. Some photographs that I shot on film over my visit to Prague, Vienna and parts of Germany to begin with.
First up Prague.
In 1997, this man was the ABVP National Secretary and was just about to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. There was a paper leak in Odisha and there was a major protest. This man participated in them. He was beaten by the police.
"We staged a protest against the Odisha government, in front of the secretariat. Around 1,500 students joined us there. While the protest was peaceful, the police charged against the activists. He was badly beaten up at that time. He had a few fractures too."
Who is he? Mr Dharmendra Pradhan. Imagine that Dharmendra Pradhan was protesting against paper leaks in 1997 and was beaten!
There is an amazing Indian Express article about him. Linked below. The irony? One of the interviewees says:
"under Pradhan's regime, the students will have more scope for dissent. "It is natural for students to be anti-establishment."
Who were the men in plainclothes using lathis to beat protestors yesterday? This is a burning question right now in the minds of many, including opposition leaders. Several videos surfaced online during and post the Chalo Sansad March that showed multiple men in plainclothes using force via sticks and lathis on protestors. One protestor filmed them asking them who they are, a @CJP_for_India affiliate handle filmed them in action hitting protestors - and finally opposition leaders like Deepender Singh Hooda and Mahua Moitra have also asked Delhi police to clarify if these men were part of the force and if not why were they using lathis to quell protestors. Moitra even shared the image of a man called Honey Dagar possibly identifying one of the men in plainclothes with a lathi.
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