lf the crackdown was intended to disperse the movement, it appears to have had the opposite effect

Books not batons, that's the resounding message here at this key landmark of Delhi. This is the Janpat Metro Station, this is the iconic Kanaat Place. And the message here is books not batons. The day after, thousands of students were brutally beaten by the Delhi police on these very streets of central Delhi. The visuals that we saw yesterday have really shaken an entire nation. Students peacefully trying to march towards the Parliament were not only blocked but assaulted, lathi charged, tear gas shells were fired on them and hundreds of those students were left brutally injured. Which is why you have this message, this poster being plonked here at such an important landmark. Delhi today is resonating nationally and internationally for the kind of brutality that was unleashed on students in the heart of the national capital. All that those students were demanding was education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, accountability from the government on the issue of paper leaks, and some communication from the government on an issue that has really shaken the core of the country in the past couple of months. What message are we sending? What message are we sending to the entire country? what message are we sending to the world that our students have to say, our students have to tell the state, please don't resort to batons when we are trying to ask for accountability from the government. Please don't resort to batons when we are trying to exercise our democratic right to protest. This one poster here is sending a loud message just a day after thousands of students descended on the roads, the central roads of Delhi and got beaten up brutally by the state forces.