They (police) took us to a tent and beat us up there.
They kept saying, 'Do you want to be journalists? We'll make you journalists.'
'We have seen a lot of reporters like you.'
'Tell us, will you make more reports on the police?'
They kept shouting all this and kept beating us.
They abused us in such a manner, it cannot be repeated.
Independent journalists and those of the alternative media aren't even seen as humans by them.
They are less than humans for them.
They speak very rudely with them.
I initially thought of myself as a victim.
But when I saw those who have been abused by the state
the farmers, who were locked in with me, had suffered more injuries than I did.
I thought to myself, that no one is talking about them out there.
And so I decided I should report on them.
I got a pen from somewhere
And then I began taking notes on my legs.
Their names and their statements.
They (farmers) showed me their injuries and bruises.
Some had bruises on their waists, others on their legs.
It must be around 6 or 7 in the evening.
I was attending a press conference by the Kisan Sangharsh Committee.
We spotted some migrant workers from the Kundli Industrial Area who were trying to cross the barricading to go towards Delhi.
We saw police officers abusing them and telling them to leave.
So I and a colleague, Dharmender Singh, began filming this.
A police officer arrives and grabs Dharmender, trying to drag him.
So I tell the police officer that you cannot behave like this with a journalist.
A few more officers arrive and drag me as well.
They began raining lathis (batons) on us.
Amidst all this, I hear an officer say 'That's Mandeep Punia!'
Two officers then dragged me away.
They (police) took us to a tent and beat us up there.
They kept saying, 'Do you want to be journalists? We'll make you journalists.'
'We have seen a lot of reporters like you.'
'Tell us, will you make more reports on the police?'
They kept shouting all this and kept beating us.
They abused us in such a manner, it cannot be repeated.
They abused us in the local language in the crassest ways.
Since I belong to the place, I could understand each word of the profanity they used.
But what could I respond to them?
After that, Jatinder Meena (additional deputy commissioner of police Outer North Delhi) arrived.
He made all the cops leave the tent, and told us that a mistake had been committed. He said we would be released and offered medical assistance.
We said we'd get our own medical aid. We said 'If you get our medical done, then you'd put us in lock up after that.'
He left after this brief conversation.
I reminded him that I had spoken to him on the 30th regarding a story and had tried taking his quote for it.
He accepted that I am Mandeep, a journalist and that I had met him on the morning of the 30th. He left afterwards.
We were then put in a White Scorpio car and driven around.
They drove us to a run-down building, I'm not sure if it was a police station.
Once we arrived, they took off my jacket and turned on the fan.
The officers started making absurd conversation, saying things like 'let's show his arrest took place at a Red Light Area.'
At that moment, a constable comes in and shows them a video of me being dragged by the police.
He says the video is going viral.
The police officers, upon hearing this, leave and return after half an hour.
They put me in a silver-coloured Grand i10, a private car.
They took me to the Ambedkar Hospital after this.
At 1:40 AM, my medico-legal takes place at the hospital.
They tried to influence the doctor here and tell him that I've had a scuffle with the staff (a reference to officers)
The doctor informs them that he has seen the video of my arrest and that he will perform the medical test as he intends to.
I'm thankful to the doctor because he did a proper medical test.
At 3:30 AM, I was put up in the lockup at Samaypur Badli Police Station.
I remember taking note of the time when my medical was taking place. It was exactly 1:40 AM.
At 3:30 AM they locked me up at the Samaypur Badl Police Station
During this time, I kept appealing to them to let me speak to my friends, or the editor or my wife. But they denied.
They kept saying, 'You can talk from Tihar Jail now.'
At 9 AM, I met my wife.
After this, the police officers took me to Tihar Jail where they presented me before the Magistrate.
Meanwhile, my lawyers were denied entry and were duped by being told that I will be presented at 2 PM.
They took my name several times when they were picking me up. So they did recognize me for sure.
They did the same with Dharmender. But they let him go, they haven't charged him with anything.
I have, instead, been arrested and sent to jail under these charges.
So, yes, there was a targeting.
There are so many journalists who have been picked up by the police and put behind bars.
Kappan Siddique is one of those people who have been locked up.
When I was locked up, I kept thinking of all the many journalists that have been locked up.
What can a journalist do in front of such a huge force and a huge state?
They can report.
And that is what I have been doing from Ground Zero.
I kept thinking about all this, about journalism. What is a journalist meant to do? To report. So I decided to report.
I initially thought of myself as a victim.
But when I saw those who have been abused by the state
the farmers, who were locked in with me, had suffered more injuries than I did.
I thought to myself, that no one is talking about them out there.
And so I decided I should report on them.
I got a pen from somewhere
And then I began taking notes on my legs.
Their names and their statements.
They (farmers) showed me their injuries and bruises.
Some had bruises on their waists, others on their legs.
And they weren't arrested from the protest sites.
Some were arrested from Narela Market, some from Paschim Vihar.
And the farmers didn't even know under what charges they were arrested.
We had young farmers imprisoned on our side of the jail.
Even they weren't arrested from the protest sites.
They would sometimes sing songs related to the farmer's protest.
The prisoners inside the jail were all in support of the farmers.
Even the prison staff would behave well with them.
They were being treated like normal prisoners.
They weren't being given any newspapers or anything to read.
They were able to get the basic essentials.
But they had no special treatment (as political prisoners) and were kept in their respective segments.
They were given only some time off.
I witnessed them being allowed to make calls once, and I was part of the group heading to the phone.
So at that time, I was able to speak to many of the farmers.
The Granthi from the Gurudwara in Baniyani village, which is the village of the Chief Minister of Harayana, was imprisoned as well.
He told me that he was helping with the Langar at the Burari Grounds. This is the same site which the government provided for the protesters. He was merely feeding the protesters there.
Even he showed me his bruises and injuries.
The biggest problem that independent journalists face is that they aren't taken seriously by government organizations.
The police behaviour is in accordance with this.
They don't even recognize the ID cards of the alternative media organizations and push them around.
I have seen many journalists of alternative media organizations who have been denied entry by the police.
Just yesterday, they denied entry to a journalist from NewsLaundry.
Independent journalists and those of the alternative media aren't even seen as humans by them.
They are less than humans for them.
They speak very rudely with them.
But what can we do? We are not journalists with stardom or those that belong to the Godi Media.
We do with what we have, however we can.
We make our way to villages and towns, between farmers and to places in cities where nobody usually goes. And we report from there. That's our job.
This is what the state is afraid of.
The most difficult job of journalism is to report from the ground, and it is also the most important.
And that's why I decided to report from Tihar as well.
And jail isn't a good place at all.
I'm not here to glamourise the idea of imprisonment.
Journalism also isn't a glamorised profession either. It is a difficult job.
Prison isn't glamourous. People become mentally unwell there.
People are locked up in a 7x9 feet size room, and everything takes place there. So imagine what it is like.
You cannot even breathe freely.
So there is no glamour in jail, its a troubling time inside.
I still have scabs on my legs. But I'm recovering. I hadn't broken any bones but there was bruising.
I have been a sportsperson and I'm strong enough to bear this.
The wounds by the lathis (batons) are now healing.
Let me show you.
Seraj Ali (Reporter): You got this from the lathis (batons)? Mandeep Punia: Yes, during the lathi-charge.
These notes that I had written here are now washing off as well.
They aren't letting journalists even reach there. But the journalists are still getting there.
There have always been challenges for journalists. There has been no golden period for journalism. At every instance, those in power have troubled the journalists.
But journalists are creative people, we find our ways. Even I will leave for Singhu soon.
I'm planning on returning to the field today itself. I think I'll go to Singhu in the evening.
I'll meet my friends in the field and prepare tougher questions to ask both the government and the leaders of the farmer unions.
We do tough stories on the leaders of the farmers, and that's the same that we intend to do with the government.
Whoever has whatever sort of power has to be questioned.
We don't blindly believe in anyone anyway.