“The police seemed less concerned about the public health emergency and more about clearing the streets of people calling attention to it.“
“I was detained when I went to protest for my right to breathe clean air.” That single sentence captures both the absurdity and the tragedy of Delhi’s pollution crisis. 22 year old Yogesh, who is a law student, the fight for clean air is not ideological or political. It is a fight for survival. On Sunday, the 2nd of November, a hew hundred like him, turned up at India Gate in New Delih, some with placards, some with slogans and many with a urge to make their voices heard.
The air in the capital has grown so toxic that people can feel it scraping their lungs, burning their eyes, and slowing their breath. When the very act of breathing becomes a daily struggle, protest is not a choice; it becomes a necessity.
The protesters who gathered at India Gate came with one simple message: life requires clean air. Yet, instead of being heard, many were detained, shoved into buses, and driven to far-off corners of the city. Students, young women, even teenagers – all were treated as if demanding breathable air was a threat to the state. The police said that India Gate was not a designated protest site and made announcements that they would take action if the protests continued.
“When we reached there, before me, around 2 busloads of protester were already detained. After that, the protest started again there. We had put forward this demand that we are not doing anything wrong. First of all, if there is a right to life, then if there is no clean air in it, how will we live? And raising such a basic demand is not wrong,” said the 22 year old.
“When we were detained, we asked the police where they would be taking us. The only answer we got – Far away from here. For an hour and a half, we were driving and they took us to Chhatarpur. They sent the second bus to Bawana. By the time it was close to 11pm. Women aren’t supposed to be detained after sunset, yet they were thrown at one far corner of Delhi from where they had to figure how to get back on their own.”
Protesters who were present at India Gate say the government’s response has ranged from indifferent to laughable. The most striking example: reports that air quality machines were being sprayed with water to artificially lower AQI readings. “People may not see the pollution on a screen,” said Yogesh, “but they feel it in their lungs.” Despite Delhi hosting both the state and central governments, meaningful action remains missing; no transparent data, no long-term strategy, and no urgency.