It happens only in India

I have seen it all before

I have seen it all before. The issues, the slogan shouting, the stone pelting, the lathicharge. In the narrow bylanes of north Kolkata. Where Lenin still lords over the hearts and minds of the varsity crowd. Believing all this will change the world. Knowing, much later, how days and academic sessions were lost in vain. And some careers too. But those protesting Sunday's eve-teasing incident inside JNU didn't have the benefit of hindsight.

The lawkeepers, the local DCP and his men, who were there to prevent any act of hooliganism, did just that. It was necessary to disperse the crowd, but not to beat up protestors and everybody else including the press like dogs. As our very own Prawesh Lama, Amit Singh and Subhash Barolia captured the brutality, risking life and limb, I stood there paralysed, transported to times gone by, knowing so little has changed. And as Paula Landes, a German student standing next to us, exclaimed, "This is India. It can only happen here", we nodded in agreement.

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