On July 14th a peaceful protest at the Israeli embassy by AISA, RYA, NAPM, JNUSU and other groups against the Isreal’s bombardment of Gaza, was met with brutal violence by the Delhi Police.

Protestors staging a sit-in at the Embassy were dragged, thrashed and abused. Their clothes were torn. Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, and Politburo member, CPI(ML), was dragged away from in front of the Embassy and hit on her lip by a policewoman’s helmet when she raised a slogan. All this took place on the orders of the DCP.

In all, nearly 100 people including JNUSU President Akbr Choudhury were bundled together in two police vans and taken to Tughlaq Road police Station. Inside the thana, Kavita Krishnan was also stopped from talking to the press, was dragged inside and verbally abused. When the JNUSU President questioned the language that was being used, he was also slapped and abused – all this in the presence of and on the orders of the SHO Pramod Joshi.

Inside the thana, the police selectively asked students with beards (presumed to be Muslims) for identity cards. The protesters were eventually released in the evening.

Another joint protest organised by India-Palestine solidarity organisations was held at the Israel embassy in Delhi on 17th July, in which activists of the CPI, CPIM, and CPI(ML) participated.

CPI (ML) Liberation held protest demonstrations all over the country on 16-17 July, including Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Chennai, Puducherry, and Siliguri. In Kolkata the protest took place in front of the Israel Consulate at Viswakarma Building near Topsia turning. CPIML State Secretary Com. Partha Ghosh addressed the mass along with Com. Rezzak Mollah & Com. Prosenjit Bose; and activists from Indians for Gaza. Comrades of Muslim Welfare Party and a number of youth who came to know about the protest from facebook also joined and raised their voice against Israel’s continuous heinous attack on Palestine.