Kalaburagi: On a day when Karnataka chief minister D.K. Shivakumar marched towards the Supreme Court along with Opposition leaders and thousands in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, activists in Bengaluru’s K.R. Circle were dragged, detained and beaten by police personnel for demonstrating for the same cause. Among those harassed in Bengaluru on October 12 were journalists, pushed and manhandled. Mobile phones were snatched from some.“Bengaluru Police is not known for this behaviour. We have seen such things happen in Delhi or even in Chennai. But what happened here this time was unprecedented. There’s usually some scuffle between protesters [during demonstrations] and police because they try to detain and protesters don’t just walk in to police buses but they acted very brutally this time. We kept asking them, ‘why are you behaving like this?’ Women were being pushed by male police,” Clifton D’Rozario, high court lawyer and Karnataka state secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation ((CPI(ML) Liberation) told The Wire.A photojournalist of a leading publication was taken aback when the police attempted to snatch his camera, misbehaved with him and pushed him for simply doing his work as protesters were bundled in a bus.“Two police personnel in uniform and one in plain cloth started manhandling me and tried to snatch my camera. I repeatedly told them that I was from the media but they didn’t stop. Even a senior journalist from another newspaper tried to intervene. They just took his phone, threw and broke it. Such a behaviour was shocking and the police need sensitisation. The DCP [Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshay M. Hakay] came and spoke to us later. We told him that this has happened with us today and will be repeated in the future as well if they [the personnel] aren’t sensitised,” the photojournalist said, requesting anonymity. Bengaluru Police detain high court lawyer and Karnataka state secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Clifton D’Rozario. Photo by arrangement.As the images of the police brutalities in the Karnataka capital went viral on social media on Monday and was widely criticised particularly because it was “happening in a Congress-ruled state,” chief minister Shivakumar was quick to react and asked Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh to “look into” the matter and “ensure that the right to peaceful protest is protected.”@arpitayodapress @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @kharge @CPBlr Please look into this and ensure that the right to peaceful protest is protected.— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) October 12, 2026In another post on Tuesday (October 13), Shivakumar reiterated that the “right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy”. “We cannot demand that right for ourselves in Delhi and deny it to others in Bengaluru,” he said.He added, “I have taken note of yesterday’s incident involving protesters and members of the media. I have sought a full report on the circumstances that led to the police action. If there has been any unnecessary use of force or excess, accountability will follow.”Further, the chief minister underlined, “Let me be clear: disagreement with the Election Commission, disagreement with my government, or disagreement with me personally does not diminish anyone’s right to peacefully express it.”Emphasising that “there will be no double standards,” he said, “Karnataka must hold itself to the democratic standards that we expect from the rest of the country.”Similarly, on Tuesday, Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge said that the police’s action will be “reviewed” while asking protesters to “cooperate with the police and keep the authorities informed, so that their safety and the rights of others are protected as well”.“The handling of the protestors yesterday by Bengaluru Police will be reviewed. The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy. It must be respected, protected and never suppressed. I have issued instructions to the police to ensure that no peaceful demonstration is disrupted,” Kharge wrote on X.He added, “I also appeal to all protesters to cooperate with the police and keep the authorities informed, so that their safety and the rights of others are protected as well. The police are here to protect your rights, not to stand in the way of your voice. Our responsibility is not merely to maintain law and order, but to create an environment where every citizen can express dissent freely, peacefully and without fear. In a democracy, peaceful dissent is not a threat to law and order. It is a right that law and order must protect.”The handling of the protestors yesterday by Bengaluru Police will be reviewed.The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy. It must be respected, protected and never suppressed.I have issued instructions to the police to ensure that no peaceful demonstration is disrupted.I also appeal to all protesters to cooperate with the police and keep the authorities informed, so that their safety and the rights of others are protected as well.The police are here to protect your rights, not to stand in the way of your voice.Our responsibility is not merely to maintain law and order, but to create an environment where every citizen can express dissent freely, peacefully and without fear.In a democracy, peaceful dissent is not a threat to law and order. It is a right that law and order must protect.— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) October 13, 2026“I don’t think the words of the chief minister or home minister will matter much. People who work on the ground need to be trained. If the police aren’t sensitised, this will continue to happen like elsewhere in the country,” the photojournalist said.Karnataka chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and other INDIA bloc leaders in New Delhi on October 12. Photo: PTI.‘Definitely made an impact’Monday’s protest call was given by Namma Matha Namma Hakku Vedike (Our Vote, Our Right Forum). Several rights groups, Left organisations and activists gathered in K.R. Circle to demand the cancellation of SIR and Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. However, what unfolded forced people to draw the conclusion that there is no difference between a Congress and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state when it is a question of the right to protest.“I have been detained in Bengaluru during a protest against SIR and on the demand that Gyanesh Kumar resign as the CEC. It appears that throughout India there is not much difference between what government is in power and who is in opposition. This is not a state run by the BJP. There is no right to peaceful assembly here. Article 19 does not exist for all practical purposes. We have been detained for I don’t knowhow long. But we will be back, there is no way that the way things have been allowed to continue since the last few months can be allowed to continue. The SIR will have to be scrapped and Gyanesh Kumar needs to go,” journalist and author Aakar Patel said in a video from the police bus after his detention.Several protesters sustained injuries as the police brutally dragged them in Bengaluru on October 12. Photo by arrangement.Narrating the sequence of events, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)’s member Aishwarya Ravikumar said that she was one of the first persons to arrive near K.R. Circle around 3 pm. The police came and snatched their placards and started detaining people even when only 10-15 of them had gathered there and were waiting for others to join them.“We wanted to submit a memorandum against SIR [Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls] to the CEO [chief electoral officer]. That’s why we were standing near K.R. Circle which is a few metres away from the CEO’s office. There are protests against SIR in Freedom Park everyday. We have been detained for protesting outside Freedom Park many times after the 2021 high court order [designating Freedom Park as the protest site] came out. The fact that we were taken away by the police this tell as well was not surprising at all. Initially, there was only one female police personnel among them, later more arrived. We were taken to City Armed Reserve (CAR) Grounds in Chamarajpet where they usually take us after such detentions,” Ravikumar said. K.R. Circle is a few hundred metres away from Freedom Park.On the chief minister coming out in support of the protesters, she pointed out, “I think it [the images of police brutalities] has definitely made an impact. On the same day he and other Opposition leaders protested in Delhi, his government is doing this here. It is time for people like us to emphasise that Freedom Park as designated venue should go. We have been demanding this since 2021. All SIR related protests must happen everywhere.”Ramesh Tadakal, a journalist with Vartha Bharati who was present at the spot said that there was a degree of misunderstanding between the police and journalists.“We went near K.R. Circle because the plan of the protesters was to go to the CEO’s office. But before anything could happen, police started dragging them and pushing them inside a bus. They manhandled journalists as well due to some misunderstanding. There were two police buses and a few rounds were made to take over 100 protesters away. This location is 500 metres away from Vidhan Soudha [state assembly]. Everything happened in such a hurry because the police most likely didn’t want any traffic issues. But many people were injured in the process,” Tadakal said.‘Protests cannot be caged in Freedom Park’In a statement issued by the Bengaluru Police later on Monday, they said that the protesters “suddenly assembled near K.R. Circle, without permission or prior intimation” which is in contrary to the “high court’s directions” of protesting at designated place.“Initially they were requested to relocate to Freedom Park, they did not comply and hence were taken into preventive custody in accordance with law and subsequently released. Police acted with due restraint and sensitivity in the prevailing circumstances. The Bengaluru City Police urges everyone to comply with high court’s directions and conduct peaceful protests only at Freedom Park while respecting public convenience and order. We stand with all citizens for their security,” the statement added.Bengaluru Police take protesters away in a bus in K.R. Circle on October 12, 2026. Photo by arrangement.On March 3, 2022, a division bench of the Karnataka high court passed an interim order directing the state government to ensure that no protests, processions or meetings are held in Bengaluru by any organisation or group, either political or non-political, except at Freedom Park, Gandhi Nagar, which is earmarked for agitation. Further, the court observed that such activities should be in an organised manner without adversely affecting traffic, especially during rush hours, and that action be taken where traffic was disrupted. The court passed the order after hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, initiated in 2021, based on a letter written by a sitting judge of the high court with regard to traffic in Bengaluru.The Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, published in the state gazette in January 2022, which is the rule governing protests in Bengaluru currently underlines that no protests, demonstrations, dharnas or protest marches may be held in the city without a licence under the order.Further, Clause 4.1 of the order identifies Freedom Park as the venue for protests in Bengaluru city. However, depending on situation, commissioner of police may also designate any other suitable place in the city for said purpose, the same clause states.“Every time protests are held anywhere outside Freedom Park, police starts citing the 2021 high court order. This licensing order based on the high court ruling came when the BJP was in power in the state. This must go, it makes no sense. Police can’t beat and detain protesters citing this order,” D’Rozario said.“See, the question is not just about acting against police personnel. They have to be explained that they have to behave properly with peaceful protesters, sensitisation is important,” he added.On Tuesday, D’Rozario wrote a letter to Karnataka home minister Kharge demanding that the Licensing Order, 2021 must be withdrawn, just as any restriction to designated venues for protests in any city.“Protests cannot be caged in Freedom Park; holding placards and shouting slogans cannot be criminalised; peaceful marches cannot be met with police violence. Police power cannot be brought down on legitimate struggles of the people in defence of the constitution, in particular in Karnataka under the Congress State government. This is the test of the commitment to the constitution and democracy,” the CPI(ML) Liberation leader wrote.He also underlined that what remains to be seen is whether the Congress state government will act against the concerned police officials who behaved “with such rage and ferocity to pull, push, abuse and assault peaceful protestors and journalists”.