But that wasn’t the last time the police would poke the library.
Over the next 10-12 days, the pile kept getting bigger as well-wishers at the protest site donated more and more books. The register filled up with entries, as more people borrowed them. On 2 July, the police returned.
Devang recalls: “This time they said it [the library, that is] could cause a stampede, and that people have a problem with it. The protestors immediately gathered around and said that wasn’t the case!”
Like Mohit, Vishal, also twenty, uses only his first name. He was minding the library at the time. “The police had a problem with it, not the people,” he said. “We refused to dismantle it.”
This time around, the Delhi Police people dug in. “They desecrated the books of Bhagat Singh, Shivaji Maharaj and Babasaheb Ambedkar,” said Devang. “They must apologise for insulting our national heroes.”
An official said to Vishal, “Seems like you want to be a neta!” and detained him. Vishal’s colleague, Bittu, was also dragged away by the collar because he was recording the interaction on his phone.
Vishal and Bittu say that after being detained, abused and beaten up by the police, they were also threatened with a long-drawn court case. It was only after their AISF friends reached the police station and raised a hue and cry over their detention that they were released.
“I wasn’t scared because of the police,” Vishal said. “I was scared my parents would find out.”
Vishal comes from a small village in Rajasthan. His father is a farmer, his mother a homemaker — they have no idea their son is a student activist. “They might not let me stay in Delhi if they find out,” he said.
When he returned to the protest site, one of the first things Vishal did was to set up the library all over again. The AISF, associated with the Communist Party of India, managed to bring back the books and had it up and running. The register notched up 1,500 entries over the next few days.
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