Over the past two weeks, a disturbing wave of illegal abductions and custodial torture has been unleashed on student and youth activists in Delhi. Activists associated with Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM), the Forum Against Corporatisation and Militarisation (FACAM), and Nazariya magazine were picked up without warrants by the Delhi Police Special Cell. Among those abducted were Ehtmam, Baadal, Gaurav, Gauraang, Vallika, Samrat Singh, and most recently, Rudra, a philosophy student at Delhi University, who was taken from New Delhi Railway Station on the morning of July 19. In all these cases, no arrest memo was issued, no FIR was shared, legal counsel was denied, and the detainees were not produced before a magistrate. These actions represent a serious and deliberate violation of constitutional rights and legal procedure.
Those who have since been released have revealed chilling accounts of custodial torture. The detained students and activists were subjected to strip searches, electric shocks, beatings, and sexual threats while being held illegally at the New Friends Colony Police Station. These acts amount to custodial torture under Indian and international law. This repression is not an isolated occurrence but part of a wider, systematic assault on democratic dissent by the BJP-RSS regime. Branding dissenters as “Urban Naxals” or “anti-nationals” is being used to justify illegal detention and violence.
AISYO strongly condemns this brutal repression and stands in solidarity with the detained and tortured student activists. Urging students, youth, and progressive forces to resist this assault on democracy, we affirm that fighting for the oppressed is a fundamental right, not a crime. We demand accountability and an immediate end to state violence against dissent.
Demands:
1. Immediate and unconditional release of all detained student activists.
2. End illegal arrests, abductions, and custodial torture by police forces.
3. Criminal prosecution of police officials responsible for these violations.
4. Independent judicial inquiry into all cases of illegal detention and abuse.
5. Stop the targeting and harassment of student organisations and democratic voices.
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A. Suresh
Convenor, All India Convening Committee
All India Students and Youth Organisation (AISYO)
Vijayawada | July 21, 2025
