Delhi Police have withdrawn Jantar Mantar’s status as a designated protest site, following a recommendation from a committee set up by the Union Home Ministry. A standing order says the decision was based on that panel’s review of alternative venues for citizens exercising their right to protest. Three new sites have been named: Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and the CBD Ground in East Delhi. The order was issued on 12 October, as the Cockroach Janta Party gave police a 24-hour deadline to fix a date for its planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The INDIA bloc was also planning a march from Connaught Place towards the Supreme Court against Kumar on the same day. Police had earlier said the CJP failed to give the ten-day notice required for demonstrations, while its co-convenors say they submitted written intimation at the Parliament Street police station. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke mocked the move, saying the government would next ‘denotify democracy’ and arguing that the real problem was the idea of people protesting. Opposition MPs such as RJD’s Manoj Jha called the decision unfortunate and said the government would come to regret it.
Jantar Mantar has hosted landmark agitations, including Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption fast, the One Rank One Pension movement and a Tamil Nadu farmers’ drought protest. Critics see the relocation to far-off grounds as a way of pushing dissent out of the capital’s centre.