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BS Bassi Preaches On Right To Protest After Police Allegedly Beat Up Students

BS Bassi Preaches On Right To Protest After Police Allegedly Beat Up Students
NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 20: Delhi Commissioner of Police, Bhim Sain Bassi leaves from Raj Niwas after meeting Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over Security issues on October 20, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Hitting back at Chief Minister Arvind Kejiwal for suggesting that Delhi Police was the 'most corrupt', Delhi top cop BS Bassi advised the AAP government to focus on its own work and let the police do theirs. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 20: Delhi Commissioner of Police, Bhim Sain Bassi leaves from Raj Niwas after meeting Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over Security issues on October 20, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Hitting back at Chief Minister Arvind Kejiwal for suggesting that Delhi Police was the 'most corrupt', Delhi top cop BS Bassi advised the AAP government to focus on its own work and let the police do theirs. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- A day after Delhi Police was accused of brutally beating up students protesting Rohith Vemula's death outside the RSS office in Jhandewalan, police commissioner B.S. Bassi responded quoting American jurist Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior.

"Your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins," tweeted the commissioner.

Right to protest coexists with whatJustice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr said -The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins.

— BS Bassi (@BhimBassi) February 2, 2016

This reaction comes after a video went viral on social media in which police were seen brutally beating up students with unidentified men in plain clothes joining in, in the assault. Protesters allege that the police had tied up with RSS workers to lead the charge.

Bassi had initially said that a probe has been ordered. “As soon as I was informed about the video, I spoke to Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deepak Mishra, who later asked Joint Commissioner (Central range) S K Gautam to look into the matter. We will see if there was any indiscretion. We shall also talk to some of the eyewitnesses, apart from analysing the content of the video,” said Bassi.

What started out as a peaceful protest with students shouting slogans such as, "Sharam Karo" (Show some shame) and carrying placards with deceased Hyderabad University student, Rohith Vemula's face on them, took an ugly turn with police suddenly turning violent and beating students with sticks. Some students were seen being slapped and a male policeman grabbed a woman protestor by the hair and dragged her down, punching her.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.