India, Oct. 11 -- On October 7, the day Narendra Modi completed 25 years at the head of a government, Delhi Police hauled Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition leaders off the streets of the capital to stop them reaching Jantar Mantar. Roads across New Delhi were sealed. As Rahul Gandhi was bundled into a police bus, Congress workers deflated the tyres of a few police vans and delivered their verdict on the quarter-century: "Modi ki hawa puncture ho rahi hai." Tyres, unlike television anchors, cannot be told what to say.

A government - Modi's government - that claims to be celebrating the people's trust felt it had to unleash the brute force of Delhi Police on citizens, civil society and opposition politicians to protect the referee of th...