Several weeks ago, on a drizzly monsoon morning, the bustle of a busy intersection in Mehsana, Gujarat was replaced with the quiet tension of a police lockdown. Guarding each entrance to the intersection, police officers stood warily, lathis in hand. As protesters gathered in other parts of Mehsana, they were warned not to venture to the intersection alone, since the police would find it easy to arrest those arriving in small groups.

Mehsana, a small city in western India, was meant to be the starting point of a seven-day “Azadi Kooch” or “Freedom March.” The march’s main demand was redistribution of land to Dalits, those historically at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy, formerly known as “untouchables.” A rally with several nationally known political figures had been planned in Mehsana on July 12 to kick off the multiday march. Organizers had received state permission for carrying out the rally and march, but this permission had been revoked at the last minute, with government officials vaguely referring to concerns about the “law and order” situation.

Confusion reigned on the morning of the Mehsana event, as arriving protesters were unsure whether the rally would take place. Eventually, a small group formed in a Dalit neighborhood near the city center. Making its way through the narrow alleys of the neighborhood, the group shouted slogans, sang songs, and exhorted the residents to join them for the protest. As the group weaved through the lanes, its size began to swell as other protesters found the marchers and joined in. The protesters poured into a main road and made their way toward the intersection where the rally was supposed to occur. The police had, for the moment, decided to avoid a confrontation. The rally was on.