Ahead of BRICS, Law Enforcement Agencies Monitoring Student, Farmer Organisations to Check Sudden Protests: Report

New Delhi: Ahead of the BRICS summit held in Delhi, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are monitoring various organisations including student outfits with regard to possible mobilisation over issues such as Israel and Gaza, the West Asia crisis and other issues related to human rights, reported New Indian Express citing sources.

“Student organisations...are being monitored for possible mobilisation over issues related to Palestine and Gaza, Iran and West Asia, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Manipur, minority and human rights, identity and self-determination," a source told the newspaper.

The increased surveillance comes after the massive student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in the national capital, which led to the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The New Indian Express report added that intelligence inputs have highlighted organisations including the Fraternity Movement, Muslim Students Federation (MSF), AIRSO and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), on whom agencies will keep a tight vigil during the summit.

“Jantar Mantar and other high-visibility locations are expected to remain potential sites for demonstrations and symbolic actions. Any fresh geopolitical, communal, identity-related or human-rights development could prompt campus programmes, marches, candlelight vigils, press events or snap demonstrations near Jantar Mantar, diplomatic missions and other media-visible locations,” a source told the newspaper.

The sources said that farmer, labour and trade-union organisations are also under watch, particularly for any calls for marches, dharnas or movements towards Delhi during the summit.

Security agencies have also been additionally asked to conduct precautionary reviews concerning select foreign delegations. Particular attention is to be given to the security of the Chinese delegation, including possible Tibet-linked protests or attempts to demonstrate near the Chinese Embassy, hotels hosting delegates or VVIP routes, the sources told the newspaper.

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