A young tribal student from Kerala found himself pinned to the ground, a constable straddling his chest and forcing his head into the pavement at an awkward angle while two others yanked at his arms and legs.
Published Nov 27, 2025 | 2:52 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 27, 2025 | 4:19 PM
The call for protest was issued by the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air, a collective that includes several student groups.
Synopsis: A protest for clean air in Delhi last Sunday ended with 23 students behind bars and a young tribal student from Kerala brutally pinned to the road by the police. What began as a call for breathable air has now been reframed as a hunt for “Maoists” and “Naxals”, with the arrested students facing the risk of being charged under the draconian UAPA.
Amid the throngs of protestors gathered at India Gate in Delhi on Sunday, 23 November, stood a young tribal student from Kerala.
Twenty-four-year-old Akshay ER, who had moved to the capital to study law, had joined the demonstration called by the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air at around 4 pm. Their demands were simple: clean air and clear skies.
Barely 25 minutes later, the loosely aligned coalition of mostly student groups crossed the barricades near C-Hexagon and raised slogans on the road. Among them were a few chants reportedly referencing Madvi Hidma, the recently killed commander of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The photo by PTI.
The police immediately began a crackdown, and Akshay was among those detained.
In moments, he found himself pinned to the ground, a constable straddling his chest and forcing his head into the pavement at an awkward angle while two others yanked at his arms and legs.
A PTI photograph captured the scene; NDTV briefly carried the image and soon it spread online.
It evoked the 2020 killing of George Floyd, when a police officer knelt on the African American man’s neck for more than nine minutes despite his repeated pleas that he could not breathe. The parallel was hard to miss.
Today, Akshay sits behind bars, charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), alongside 23 others. The allegations range from raising pro-Maoist slogans to breaking barricades, using pepper spray and attacking officers.
The Student Federation of India’s (SFI) Delhi chief Sooraj Elamon told South First that no major student organisation, including the SFI, had called for the protest.
Instead, the call had been issued by the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air, a collective that includes several student groups, according to sources.
Delhi-based journalist JS Vishnu explained that posters had appeared across the city days earlier, inviting people to join a protest on clean air.
”Many students saw it as an opportunity to stand up for a social cause. There were some organisations involved, but most students didn’t know that,” he said.
After members of the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) and Himkhand raised political slogans, other groups reportedly distanced themselves from the demonstration.
”No student used pepper spray. A few from a small group shouted Hidma slogans, but how does that make all of us ‘Maoists’?” Mehnas, a student who was present at the protest, told South First.
She said that authorities never asked what the protest was about. ”We were out there because we can’t breathe in Delhi. We want clean air. Instead of addressing that, they rushed to question our politics and label us. This wasn’t a political outfit’s protest,” she added.
From the protest where students were detained.
Back in Thrissur, Kerala, one of Akshay’s family members firmly rejected all claims that he had any association with extremist ideologies.
”We belong to the ST community. Akshay comes from a poor household and is the family’s only real hope. He has always been a brilliant student with strong academic performance. His father is a daily wage labourer, and his mother is a homemaker. That photograph shook us,” the relative told South First.
“Whatever the allegation may be, is this how a student should be treated?”
Along with Akshay, another Malayali student is also detained, and the bigger worry now, according to Vishnu, is that the police might invoke the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which could cause the students even more trouble.
The slogans referencing Madvi Hidma were spontaneous.
Akshay is a third year LLB student at Delhi University, but had joined the BSCEM only three months ago, a source in Delhi told South First. He currently shares a rented flat in Vijay Nagar with four other students.
Although he reportedly invited some friends to join the protest, they declined, fearing a heavy-handed police response.
Puneet (name changed) a BSCEM empathizer, told South First that Akshay had no connection to any Marxist or Maoist organisation. He recounted that protestors gathered under the banner of the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air at around 4 pm on Sunday and were joined by multiple student groups and members of the public. He said the slogans referencing Madvi Hidma were spontaneous.
”Those slogans were never part of the plan. When we heard them, we distanced ourselves, but police began detaining people soon after,” he said.
Madvi Hidma was one of the most wanted Maoist leaders in India.
But according to Delhi Police, the protestors did far more than simple sloganeering. Two FIRs have since been filed, one at Kartavya Path police station and another at Parliament Street police station, naming a total of 23 protestors. Akshay is named in both.
The first FIR at Kartavya Path names eight people, and alleges that protestors scaled barricades, raised pro-Maoist slogans (“Hidma amar rahe”), and used pepper spray on the police. It has been registered under sections 74, 79, 115(2), 132, 221, 223A and 61(2) of the BNS.
Fellow protestors dispute these claims and maintain that Akshay did not use pepper spray.
Copy of the FIR
The second FIR, registered at the Parliament Street police station, accuses demonstrators of turning violent during the sit-in outside the station and allegedly injuring officers.
The police have invoked sections 223A, 132, 221, 121(1), 115(2), 126(2) and 3(5) of the BNS and have also told the court that they are examining possible Naxal links.
Binoy Viswam. (X)
Communist Party of India (CPI) Kerala chief Binoy Viswam expressed deep disappointment at the treatment meted out to the protestors.
”It’s disappointing. Students demand clean air, yet they are imprisoned, prosecuted, and branded as terrorists, labeled urban Naxalites. This is both cruel and absurd. The concern was not raised by a few students alone, millions in Delhi, including those on medication, worry for their health and lives,” he told South First.
Viswam said the Narendra Modi-led Union government’s treatment of students merely protesting to claim basic rights hurt India’s democratic spirit.
“The student’s courage is commendable, they took to the streets to claim their basic rights. Providing fundamental human rights should be any government’s primary duty. Instead, the Modi government treats protesting students as anti-socials, labeling them urban Naxalites, a term even echoed in Parliament. I have also faced such labeling from BJP members in Parliament,” he said.
“In tribal areas, people chant ‘Jal, Jameen, Jungle’ (water, land, and forest), basic rights for every citizen. Incidents like this hurt India’s democratic spirit.”
Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fasal
Kerala also has a history of accusing students of links with Maoist organisations. Notably, in November 2019, two students, Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fasal, were arrested on allegations of maintaining close ties with Maoist operatives.
The Kerala Police filed charges under the UAPA, sparking controversy.
“I know the families of Alan and Thaha, and I am aware of the court verdicts. Keeping a book on Mao is not a crime, it is their right. I too have the right to keep a book on Mao on my bookshelf,” Viswam said.
Akshay ER
Advocate Subhash Chandran, representing Banka Aakash, one of the arrested students originally from Andhra Pradesh and associated with the SFI, alleged several procedural lapses by Delhi Police.
The next hearing for the case is scheduled for Saturday, 29 November, when the bail application will be considered. The bail plea was not taken up on Wednesday.
“We were not provided with copies of the FIR or the arrest memo, nor were the lawyers or family members informed at the time of the arrest. The students had gathered to protest air pollution, but some radical groups were also present and reportedly raised pro-Maoist slogans,” Chandran told South First.
”My client is from Andhra Pradesh and has been here for just a year. He doesn’t even know Hindi properly, so he didn’t understand what the slogans were and never chanted them. Other Malayalis were also detained, including Wafiya and Zameer Fayis.”
Lawyers representing Akshay and the others in custody also confirmed that even after twenty-four hours, the police had not provided a copy of the FIR.
Allegations of pepper spray use remain unsubstantiated. Akshay’s face showed visible injuries when he was produced in court.
However, another lawyer said police have now added Section 197(d) for allegedly spreading misleading information that could affect India’s sovereignty or security.
With claims of pro-Maoist links, police say they must check if there was any funding or organised backing.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
