Left parties say police turned Delhi into ‘war zone’; MP Brittas hospitalised after being detained

Left parties condemned the continued police action against protesters in Delhi on Sunday (October 11, 2026), which saw Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) get injured as police detained and forcibly dragged him to a detention van while he was speaking to the media. 

Mr. Brittas was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he was visited by CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby.

“The police have turned Delhi into a war zone,” Mr. Baby said, adding that scores of activists from the party’s student wing, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), including its president Adarm M. Saji and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader Jaick C. Thomas, were assaulted inside police vehicles. “They have turned police vans into torture camps. Women are being cruelly attacked and detained for hours inside mobile jails,” Mr. Baby said. 

The clampdown will not stop the protests, Mr. Baby asserted, saying, “[Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, [Union Home Minister]Amit Shah, and [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief] Mohan Bhagwat must not be under the impression that unleashing state repression will kill the movement to oust [Chief Election Commissioner] Gyanesh Kumar. The students and the youth are fighting to save our democracy.” he said.

Mr. Brittas, who continues to be under treatment as of Sunday (October 11, 2026) evening, said in a post on X: “Even if we are dragged through the streets, beaten with lathis, trampled with boots, or choked to death, we will not step back even an inch. We will forge ahead until victory in this protest to reclaim the democracy of our nation!” 

Mr. Brittas in a letter marked to President of India, Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman, said, that the timing of the “brutal police assault” on him was significant, considering it occurred within hours of the Supreme Court’s directions to the administration on protests. “The incident raises grave questions concerning personal liberty, the right to peaceful expression, police accountability and compliance with the constitutional safeguards that this Hon’ble Court has time and again upheld and reaffirmed through its authoritative judgments,” he wrote. The demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation is being made through democratic means, he said, adding, “Neither these demands nor the criticism of public institutions can be treated as a licence for the State to resort to intimidation.”

Annie Raja detained

Communist Party of India national secretary Annie Raja was detained while on her way to meet student activists associated with the party. Several detainees, she said, required medical attention, but she was not allowed to meet them. 

CPI general secretary D. Raja said that the police crackdown seen on the roads of Delhi over the last few days was unprecedented. “All detainees must be immediately released and the government must withdraw all FIRs filed against them,” he said.