Saurabh Sharma

What colour underwear or socks one wears should be nobody else's business and definitely not the country's biggest political parties'. But if you are headed to a public rally of their top leaders, they want to know what colour you are wearing.

It better not be black.

Of late, security personnel posted at the entrance of political rallies have been asked to make sure nobody wearing even a stitch of black gets past the gate. No exceptions. Be it men, women or even children. Be it outerwear or innerwear. Be it Sikh men wearing black turban or Muslim women wearing burka.

Behind this diktat lies parties' anxiety that dissenters might sneak in as members of the audience, use the black clothing as a black flag and, figuratively, leave a black mark on the organisation's image-building programme. This year saw multiple instances of people being denied entry at political rallies for wearing black, asked to take off their black clothing and inspected for the colour of their underwear.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting in Jaipur on July 7, where he was scheduled to interact with beneficiaries of a government scheme, unsuspecting visitors were summarily told to discard their black clothing or leave. Not only were people told to ditch their black muffler, handkerchief, bag, jacket, cap, socks etc but also their innerwear. Heaps of such items had formed at the entrance. Those who had donned a black shirt or pant stood helpless outside the venue, pleading with the security to let them in but to no avail.

It was later reported that the local administration was given strict instructions to prohibit any black item to avoid a repeat of the March 8 public rally in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. In this event, where Modi was on stage with the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje, a few disgruntled contractual workers had disrupted the latter's speech by waving black flags and raising slogans. A Jaipur-based electronic media journalist who did not wish to be identified said that after this incident, police became extra cautious about not allowing anyone sneak in black clothing at such high-profile events.

‘Bra’zen disregard

Earlier in January, a public rally of BJP national president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Varanasi followed the same protocol of refusing entry to people wearing black. The women's convention Shah addressed in Chhattisgarh in October made news for the same reason. Photographs of the venue's entry point had gone viral, depicting how all black clothing was confiscated at the entrance. Reports emerged alleging that women's undergarments too were searched to ensure no one carried a black flag inside.

A senior journalist working for an international publication who was covering this event witnessed this checking first-hand. Requesting anonymity due to terms of his employment, he told this reporter how everyone was being checked diligently. He shared a few photographs (see below), one of which shows a policeman checking the underwear of a child at the venue’s entrance.

A local broadcast journalist put this extreme checking in context. He pointed out that at the time, the then state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel was in jail over a political controversy and the Congress members had declared they'd show black flags to the BJP leadership to express dissent at the arrest. He said this threat prompted the administration to be extra vigilant about not allowing any black clothing.

In September, a balloon seller in Madhya Pradesh's Satna was arrested and taken to court because the black balloons he had sold were released at a convention presided by the then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as a sign of protest.

The month before, Uttar Pradesh-based senior political journalist Kumari Ranjana had shared in a Facebook post how when she had gone to cover an event that had the chief minister in attendance, a member of his security team had objected to her wearing a black dupatta. Her post stated that while she had often heard and read about this, it was the first time this was happening to her in her 18-year-long career. The post read she didn't give in and walked by. Ranjana told FirstPost she didn't take this incident seriously and was not stopped on other occasions perhaps because she's a regular face at government programmes.

A couple of months before this, a student leader of Lucknow University, Ankit Singh Babu, had to spend more than a week behind bars for showing black flags to Adityanath's convoy and raising slogans against him.

Though Babu's later demonstrations against the CM had him blocking the way of his convoy, jumping on to his car and thereby attracting serious criminal charges, the first transgression for which he was jailed involved merely waving black flags from across the road and sloganeering. This reporter had witnessed the entire episode.

Seemingly, the BJP has been intolerant towards black flags for more than a year. A news report from Dehradun states how for Modi's rally in the Himalayan state's capital in December-end, people were asked to take off their black clothing and headgear despite the biting cold.

Congress at it too

Rajasthan's new chief minister and his deputy, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, have vocally criticised Modi and Raje for barring the entry of people wearing black in their rallies, calling them paranoid of criticism. However, the election rally of Congress national president Rahul Gandhi in Chhattisgarh in November too saw those wearing black being stopped at the gate.

This reporter himself was not allowed to enter the venue in Bastar as he was wearing a black t-shirt. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men at the gate said they had orders from above, though they didn't specify despite questioning who exactly had issued the order.

"Sahab, aap hamara baat maan lo. Aap t-shirt change kar lo. Aap meri shirt pehen lo lekin is kaale kapde mein ham aapko andar nahi jaane denge. Hamaari-aapki koi dushmani nahi hai, sir, lekin hamne agar aapko kaale kapde mein andar jaane diya toh hamaari naukri par baat aa jayegi," a CRPF jawan pleaded with this reporter.

 (Sir, please understand. Change your t-shirt. You can have my shirt but we can't let you in with this black clothing. You and we have got no bad blood, sir, but if we let you in wearing black, our jobs might be in danger.)

This reporter sought intervention of senior Chhattisgarh Congress leader TS Singh Deo, who was in the race for the chief minister's post after the party won the election. His personal assistant told the reporter in no uncertain terms that he better change his t-shirt otherwise he won't be allowed inside.

Five days later, this reporter was stopped at the gate of Modi's election rally in Ambikapur for the same reason.

Who dunnit

Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told FirstPost he has received complaints of people being denied entry at party events for wearing black. He said the party has not put forth any instruction regarding entry or black flag and that it is officers concerned who pull this off to impress the political bosses.

"Adhikaari log chaatukaarita karne ke liye yeh sab karte hain," he said, adding that criticism in any non-violent form is a sign of healthy democracy. He mentioned that as a student leader, he himself has shown black flags to political leaders many a time. He said action against protesters can be taken only when they breach security.

All the district magistrates this reporter spoke with asked not to be quoted and said they know nothing about how or why those wearing black were denied entry in public rallies in their jurisdiction.

Dinesh Tripathi, Superintendent of Police, city range, Saharanpur, where Modi had addressed a rally in April, said they don't get any written or oral order regarding this. He said the police ban black clothing on their own to pre-empt any black flag protest.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said criticism, which includes showing black flags, is a part of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. He said it has become commonplace to harass people who show up in black for political rallies and called this scrutiny illegal.

Veteran journalist Indrajit Singh, who has been in the profession since the days of Indira Gandhi, noted that parties' such intolerance of dissent is a new phenomenon. He said leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to stop their car and listen to the protesters but the politicians of today lack this quality.

"This way of protest has been considered very health in the democracy and everyone has the right to do so but this new trend of not allowing people in the public gathering of big leaders, stopping journalists or imposing serious charges on people showing the black flag is unfortunate," he said.