People stage a demonstration on the Aravalli Hills row in front of the District Collectorate in Udaipur. (ANI)
Cause of movement, evolution of movement, organisers of movement, structure and ideology of the movement, proximate dynamics of any violent events and strategies for mobilisation and sustenance: These are some of the key questions asked by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), for the first time, to all state and Union Territory police chiefs, while seeking detailed records of post-Independence protests, particularly those after 1974 to prepare a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prevent mass agitations by vested interests.
The directions, issued by the National Police Mission (NPM) division of the BPR&D, came four months after Union Home Minister Amit Shah instructed the BPR&D to prepare an SOP. This followed a study of all post-Independence protests, especially those after 1974, to analyse their reasons, financial aspects, final outcomes, and behind-the-scenes players.
In a communication to all the DGs sent last month, an ADG rank officer of BPR&D said, “All States/UTs are kindly requested to provide details of the all post-independence protests in their respective States/UTs. The required information may please be shared via the NIC link.”
The police think tank under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also shared a standardised format titled ‘Major protest movements’, comprising 13 questions. It seeks details of major protests in the State/UT since 1974, including: the year and place, origin/cause of the movement, details of the organisers, number of protesters involved, structure and ideology, strategies for mobilisation and sustenance, evolution of the movement, proximate dynamics of any violent events, outcomes (whether the protest succeeded in its demands or not), details of casualties, if any, details of destruction to public property, if any, and lessons to prevent sabotage, violence, and public disorder.
The Indian Express first reported on September 15 that Shah asked the BPR&D to prepare an SOP and asked to analyse reasons, patterns and outcomes of those protests, including behind-the-scenes players.
The NPM has been directed to prepare a document in line with the recommendations of the National Security Strategies Conference 2025. “These recommendations state that BPR&D should form teams comprising experienced and young police officers to study all post-Independence protests, particularly those after 1974, and analyse their reasons, outcomes, and the behind-the-scenes players involved.
Financial investigation agencies should be engaged to examine the financial aspects of such agitations. An SOP should then be formulated based on the study’s findings to prevent future mass agitations orchestrated by vested interests,” it said in the communication.