New Delhi: A ragged line of protesters sat in the middle of Man Singh Road, just in front of the India Gate, as the sun dipped behind a haze-laden sky. Their placards read, “We can’t breathe”, “Stop poisoning us”. The air – thick, metallic and toxic – hung over the capital with its familiar, suffocating weight.

But as slogans pierced the sickening air, what began as a defiant, peaceful sit-in to remind the government of its duties, transformed into a violent confrontation. As the Delhi Police surged ahead, bodies were dragged, barricades were breached. Some protesters were allegedly pepper-sprayed. The police also claimed to have been chilli-sprayed by the demonstrators. What was meant to be a voice raised for clean air turned into a brutal spectacle of might and force.

The demonstrators had gathered to demand meaningful government action against Delhi’s spiralling winter pollution. The air has been toxic in Delhi for over a month now, with the air quality index (AQI) showing a reading of over 400 – “hazardous” – in recent days.

Police said the protesters broke barricades and refused to move, obstructed ambulances and emergency access. When clashed, the police alleged that the protesters used pepper spray on the personnel. At least three to four officers reportedly suffered injuries and were taken for treatment.

Authorities arrested around 17 people, charging them under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for obstruction and assault on public servants. Judicial Magistrate Sahil Monga on November 24 remanded the 17 to three days in jail on Delhi Police's plea seeking 14 days of judicial custody.

According to the Delhi Police, it was the first time pepper spray was used against officials in such a protest. 

In a sharp escalation, the police registered two FIRs: one at Kartavya Path police station, under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including assault, contempt of public servants and disobedience to lawful orders, and another at the Parliament Street police station, under sections that include conspiracy against the state, obstructing public servants, and other serious offences.

One of the protestors who spoke to The Wire, shared how the Delhi Police initially allowed them to protest. “But when they heard the slogans that talked about Hidma, Charu, the protestors felt the police were triggered into the brutality they showed,” she said.

The 18-year-old protestor, who said this was her first ever protest added that it has induced a level of trauma in her that will take time to subside. “They began dragging us, to separate us. At first, male police officers were dealing with male protestors and female police officers were dealing with female protestors. But later, male police personnel started dragging even female protestors,” she said.

Another protestor, who has developed abrasions on his legs from being dragged by the police said, “Were we asking for something illegal? Were we calling for something impossible? We were simply reminding the government of our right to live. Yet we were treated as if we were provoking people to bring down the country,” he said. 

“My parents are in deep shock, some of my friends are in judicial custody, is asking for clean air a criminal act?” he added.

The police action at India Gate drew sharp criticism from opposition leaders, who questioned why citizens demanding clean air were treated as security threats. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the detentions showed “how intolerant the government has become towards peaceful democratic expression,” adding that “clean air is a basic human right, and citizens cannot be treated like criminals for demanding it.” 

He also wrote that while children were struggling to breathe, the government “simply doesn’t care.” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray posted videos of the detentions, remarking that the use of riot police against anti-pollution demonstrators was inconsistent with the government’s claim of being the “world’s largest democracy.” 

“Citizens are being arrested for asking for clean air,” he said.

AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, accused pollution-monitoring agencies of “fudging air-quality data” and said the protest reflected growing public distrust. “When institutions themselves tamper with data, people are forced to take to the streets,” he said. 

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan also criticised the detentions, calling peaceful protest “a fundamental right that should not be met with police force.” Left parties, including CPI(ML) Liberation, issued statements urging the government to “arrest pollution, not people.”

The brutal police actions, the detentions and the protestors being sent to police custody for exercising their right to protest, have also drawn criticism from citizens, lawyers and civil liberties groups who say the episode shows how narrow the space for peaceful assembly has become. 

Instead of treating a small demonstration as a routine expression of frustration, they argue, the police moved quickly toward FIRs and detentions, a response that fits a familiar pattern in which protests about basic governance failures, including air pollution, are handled like law-and-order flare-ups.

For eyewitnesses, the police demeanour raised uncomfortable questions about what exercising civic rights actually looks like in the national capital. 

Delhi is still choking through another winter of hazardous air, and the confrontation has highlighted not only the public health reality but also the limited avenues for residents trying to call attention to it. 

As court petitions and official statements now begin to surface, the focus is shifting towards how authorities are justifying these restrictions and where the line between security and citizens’ right to gather is being drawn in practice.

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