Dealing with violent civil protests in India KRITI M. SHAH

the police are regularly confronted with large-scale protests, riots and incidents of mass civil disorder. In such events of unrest, protesters may react in a violent way against police and security forces, property, or other civilians.

where the police have used  have used lathis or batons, water cannons and teargas to disperse an unlawful assembly, but in  a manner that is excessive or harsh.

the government should re-examine the methods and tactics used by the police when dealing with civil unrest... A political decision in Delhi can trigger a reaction in a part of the country, which in turn can cause another reaction somewhere else. Social media and instant messaging have made it possible for information (and misinformation) to spread like wildfire, causing havoc for civilians and posing problems for law enforcement officials.

Adding more complexity is the politicisation of the Indian police forces. Local police often have their own political biases and affiliations which interfere in their ability to monitor and control civil unrest. T

he list of equipment and weapons for crowd control recommended by the BPR&D include water cannons, teargas shells, stinger and dye-marker grenades, tasers and lasers, net guns, and stink bombs.[19] All of these are described as “non-lethal” weapons that are effective in crowd control. Interestingly, the list also includes ‘plastic bullets for mob dispersal’. On the use of plastic bullets, the BPR&D SOP report states that plastic bullets have “not yet been field tested. The .303 version was tested in Kerala and not found to be capable of dispersing a mob. I