Should Violent Protesters Be Given Amnesty?

Should criminal cases against student protesters be withdrawn? Was the police response excessive? And where should the line be drawn between democratic dissent and violence?

In this high-voltage NDTV debate, BJP spokesperson Sanju Verma and former IB Special Director Yashovardhan Jha Azad clash over the fallout of the July 20 student protests.

Sanju Verma argues that the Supreme Court has made it clear there can be no blanket amnesty for protesters with criminal antecedents and says those who attacked police personnel must face the law. Yashovardhan Jha Azad, while condemning attacks on the police, questions the use of pellet guns and calls for a judicial inquiry into alleged police excesses.