NEW DELHI: The law enforcement and intelligence agencies are likely to step up their surveillance with regard to possible protests and public gatherings ahead of the BRICS Summit in the national capital. The student organisations, minority-rights groups and international-solidarity networks are among those being surveilled, sources said on Thursday.
“Student organisations...are being monitored for possible mobilisation over issues related to Palestine and Gaza, Iran and West Asia, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Manipur, minority and human rights, identity and self-determination," said a source.
The heightened vigil follows protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) last month and subsequent demonstrations by various groups in Lutyens’ Delhi.
The inputs have suggested that there could be fresh mobilisation during the summit, which could be decentralised, organised at short notice and driven largely by the desire for media visibility rather than being part of a single, coordinated anti-BRICS campaign.
According to sources, intelligence inputs have flagged organisations such as the Fraternity Movement, Muslim Students Federation (MSF), AIRSO and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). Agencies will keep these groups under watch during the summit period.
“Jantar Mantar and other high-visibility locations are expected to remain potential sites for demonstrations and symbolic actions. Any fresh geopolitical, communal, identity-related or human-rights development could prompt campus programmes, marches, candlelight vigils, press events or snap demonstrations near Jantar Mantar, diplomatic missions and other media-visible locations,” the source said.
The sources further added that agencies are also asked to monitor Kuki, Meitei and other North-East community, student and civil-society groups for possible mobilisation in Delhi-NCR in response to fresh violence, political developments, rights-related incidents or viral social-media content concerning Manipur and the region.
Such activity could include solidarity gatherings, vigils, press conferences, marches or demonstrations.
Farmer, labour and trade-union organisations are also under watch, particularly for any calls for marches, dharnas or movements towards the national capital during the summit window.
Security agencies are additionally asked to conduct precautionary reviews concerning select foreign delegations and particular attention is to be given to the security of the Chinese delegation, including possible Tibet-linked protests or attempts to demonstrate near the Chinese Embassy, hotels hosting delegates or VVIP routes, they said.
There is an assessment that the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election season could also amplify political activity, with rival student groups potentially engaging in mobilisation and counter-mobilisation.
Agencies have assessed that campus rivalries, alongside ongoing educational and political issues, could lead to demonstrations, confrontations, provocative campaigning or attempts to attract publicity during the summit, the sources said.