Lathi sticks were once used by the British colonialists to suppress the independence movement in India, and are still used by Indian security forces in suppressing protests today.
Lathi sticks were used by the British colonists in the police force in India in the late 19th century to deal with civil disobedience and nonviolent protest movements in the empire’s largest colony. Since the 1920s, when the protest movement spread with rallies attracting hundreds of thousands of people, the use of lathi sticks gradually became popular.
The lathi stick is a legacy of British colonial rule.
The British government at the time even had some instructions on how to use lathi sticks, with some attacks such as “jabbing” , which is a blow to the stomach, or “cutting” , which is a blow to the neck and head of an opponent. “The lathi stick is a legacy of British colonial rule. There is strong historical evidence that freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai (a hero of India’s national liberation movement) died because of the owl. hit him on the head with a lathi stick during an anti-colonial demonstration,” said Syed Ali Kazim, an associate professor from Aligarh Islamic University.
Originally, lathi was a type of stick derived from a weapon used in martial arts in South Asia . In the past, the lathi was widely used by warlords to fight the rebellion of the poor, appearing as a symbol of unchallenged power. Currently, in addition to equipment for security forces, lathi sticks are still used in martial arts, sports, and health training.
Lathi sticks are used in martial arts, sports, health training.
After gaining independence from Britain, the Indian government continued to use lathi sticks as an effective weapon to suppress riots or disperse protests. Today, the lathi sticks used in the Indian security forces are made from two main materials: synthetic resin and bamboo. The Hindu Times quoted New Delhi police as saying the capital’s security forces had 85,000 synthetic plastic lathi sticks and 15,000 bamboo sticks.
Although it looks like a regular stick, the lathi is a weapon that actually deals serious damage . Wounds caused by lathi sticks can be swollen and painful for days. In some cases, broken bones, paralysis or even death were caused by lathi cane injuries.