The visuals emerging from Delhi’s streets on October 10 and 11, the days of the protests, are terrifying and deeply disturbing. The concern is not merely that Hindutva groups allegedly attacked protesters, including women, while the police looked on. Equally disturbing is the conduct attributed to personnel in uniform, who appeared to act without fear of being held accountable. Videos and accounts from the day raised serious allegations of women being touched inappropriately and sexually harassed by those entrusted with their protection.If the guardians of the law are themselves accused of such conduct, what protection can ordinary citizens expect? It is a grim indictment of a system in which Delhi, often described as India’s rape capital, continues to struggle with women’s safety.The manner in which the police handled the protests raises further troubling questions. The severity of the crackdown, combined with restrictions on journalists and YouTubers attempting to document events, creates the impression that the authorities were determined to prevent the full story from emerging. Since the independent coverage was obstructed, the footage and reports now available may represent only a fraction of what unfolded on Delhi’s streets that day.Alongside the alleged police excesses, several right-wing Hindu organisations were reportedly seen threatening, intimidating and physically assaulting protesters and journalists as demonstrators tried to reach Jantar Mantar for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest. Even women were not spared as can be seen from various video footages.Police personnel detain people in New Delhi on October 11, 2026. Photo: PTI.According to several media reports, many of these confrontations took place in the presence of police personnel. This raises a fundamental question. Why did those accused of attacking protesters appear to face little restraint, while the protesters themselves faced extensive restrictions? The answer may lie in a disturbing possibility that the orders came from the top.It is difficult not to wonder whether the BJP has borrowed from the darkest chapters of history, when authoritarian movements relied on ideologically aligned street groups to intimidate opponents and suppress dissent. Are we witnessing the politicisation of the police, with those sympathetic to Hindutva ideology being allowed to act with impunity? Beyond the alleged use of surveillance technologies such as Pegasus, has the government also adopted methods of crushing dissent reminiscent of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians? These are serious questions that cannot simply be dismissed for political convenience.Kashmiris have endured restrictions, intimidation and the suppression of dissent for years, particularly since the unconstitutional abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. They have been labelled as anti nationals, dehumanised and what not. But that is a story for another day. Today, the concern is the rest of India, where the scenes unfolding in the national capital make it seem as though the country is being turned into a much larger Kashmir.Yet there is a difference, a glimmer of hope. This time, people are raising their voices.For years, it was deeply disheartening to watch Muslims being lynched, the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case released and welcomed with garlands, and Muslim homes and mosques demolished, often without much public outrage from large sections of the majority community. Then came Hathras, where a Dalit woman was raped and murdered, and the Uttar Pradesh authorities cremated her body without allowing her family to perform the last rites as they wished. Yet the public response seemed inadequate to the enormity of the injustice.The young women wrestlers who accused a BJP leader of sexual harassment were dragged along Delhi’s streets by the police as they protested. Once again, the public outrage failed to match the gravity of the moment. Even reports of offerings being stolen from the Ram Mandir failed to provoke the kind of public anger one might have expected. It often felt as though a large part of the country had been lulled into a deep slumber, unmoved by injustice as long as it was inflicted on someone else .For those of us, especially in Kashmir, who believe in India and in the idea of India, not out of convenience but conviction, this normalisation of injustice has been profoundly depressing. The very constitutional values that we have embraced and with which we forged a bond are being undermined at every turn, yet the country appeared unwilling to confront what is happening.Rahul Gandhi repeatedly raised these issues and tried to awaken the nation’s conscience. Too often, however, he seemed isolated. Even members of his own party did not always match his persistence, while many opposition parties appeared too afraid of political retaliation to confront a government that seemed increasingly intolerant of dissent.Then came the Cockroach Janta Party and a generation of young Indians who refused to remain silent. Something began to change. A country that had seemed resigned to injustice started to stir. Young men and women took to the streets, asking questions that had gone unanswered for years. Across the country, slogans defending the Constitution and Hindu-Muslim brotherhood began to be heard again.Security personnel stand guard as heavy police deployment and entry restrictions are enforced ahead of a planned protest by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) members against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, at Kartavya Path in New Delhi, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. Photo: PTI.The venom that communal politics had injected into the fabric of Indian society seemed, at least in those moments, to give way to something more hopeful. Hindus and Muslims stood together at Jantar Mantar, united by a shared commitment to justice and constitutional values. Junaid became a face of this solidarity, though he and his family have paid a heavy price for it.Any sacrifice made to bring Gandhi’s India back to its feet is worth the struggle. When Hindus and Muslims make that sacrifice together, as they did during the freedom movement, there is little this country cannot achieve.Today, there is once a gain reason to hope that India is rejecting Godse’s hatred and embracing Gandhi’s message. The events of October 10 and 11 were a chilling warning of how far the country has strayed from its constitutional ideals, but the courage of its young people offers hope that the journey back is still possible. They remind us that India’s conscience has not been extinguished. Rahul Gandhi has often spoken of conscientious people within the system who are fed up and want to save the country. It is now up to them, whether in the judiciary, the executive or the media, to fulfil their duty. Gen Z has shown the way. It is time for others to come forward and carry the struggle to its logical conclusion, so that India can once again be truly free.Mehbooba Mufti is leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ Democratic Party and a former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.