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Watch the State

@watchthestate

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We track state-sanctioned violence, and record the silencings and the everyday brutality that don’t make prime time. Tag us. By @thepolisproject.

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Protest is one of the foundations on which the BJP was built, and ever since, it has not opposed protest as a political method.

Marches, yatras, religious processions, bandhs, mass rallies helped turn the party from a marginal parliamentary party into the dominant force of the Indian state.

Its objection begins only when the streets can no longer be controlled by it.

CORRECTION: The image on slide one is by Anushree Fadnavis (@anushree_fadnavis) / Reuters. by @watchthestate

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DM, or email us at anahita@thepolisproject.com. by @watchthestate

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Welcome to Watch the State.

Born out of protest, built as archive, Watch the State was launched by The Polis Project in the aftermath of India’s anti-CAA uprisings in 2019.

Students, activists and citizens were being brutalised, arrested and disappeared. The state was not just enabling the spread of disinformation; it was also actively erasing proof of its crime and impunity. As mainstream media abdicated its duty to report and social media became the digital archive of violence.

Every image, every report, every piece of information, and every post we share is credited, verified, and placed in context. We do not masquerade opinion as investigation. We hold the line.

Our focus is clear:
We document protest.
We archive repression.

We track state-sanctioned violence against students, workers, journalists, farmers, women, and the undocumented. We record the silencings, the disappearances, the everyday brutality that doesn’t make prime time. But it helps us understand the pattern.

So what is ‘the state’?

It’s not just the government. It’s the media that launders state propaganda. The technocrats and capitalists who profit from silence. It’s the entire machine that thrives on impunity.

In the coming months, at Watch the State, we’re deepening the work:
– First-person debriefs and video dispatches
– Archival returns that link the past to the present

If The Polis Project is the finished essay, Watch the State is the marginalia. Scrawled in urgency. Backed by rigour. And always remembering that everything will be remembered.

Follow us. Read closely. Share carefully. Stay alert. by @watchthestate

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2:20 PM / 13th October / Janpath - Student activists from RWPI and Disha brutally detained. by @watchthestate

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Update: Day 4 Delhi Protests, October 13, 2026 by @watchthestate

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Day 4, Delhi Protests by @watchthestate

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7:15 PM / Sansad Marg - Protestors detained, journalists harassed and nearly detained, one of the protestors allegedly fainted after nearly being choked while being detained by the Delhi police. taken in Cannought Place by @watchthestate

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Right after the face off between police forces and protestors, another march has begun towards Jantar Mantar from Barakhamba road. by @watchthestate

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Day 3 in Delhi. Successful mobilization near Mandi House-Barakhamba Road roundabout. Opposition parties, student associations and civilians have gathered and are marching towards Jantar Mantar, despite the place getting de-notified as the designated protest site. The new protest sites are now Ramlila Ground, CBD Ground and Burari Ground

#newdelhiprotests #cjp #congress taken in Delhi, India by @watchthestate

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The Polis Project’s Daily Protest Brief offers daily analysis of India’s student-led mass protest, tracking emerging patterns and significant developments.

Each brief draws on our reporters’ on-the-ground coverage to explain what is changing and what those changes reveal about the movement. by @watchthestate

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by @watchthestate

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As the second day of protests ends, reporter Saumya Singh @saumyaaa.singh recounts the day’s key events: escalating police violence, detentions, and assaults on protesters, journalists, and student activists. These include reports of sexual violence against detained men and women. Delhi police prevented @thepolisproject reporters @vibhugroverr and Saumya Singh from documenting police brutality and also assaulted Grover. The on going mass detention violates the Supreme Court’s order. by @watchthestate

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