New Delhi, Oct 13 The CPI(M) on Tuesday vowed to resist the withdrawal of Jantar Mantar’s status as a designated protest site, alleging that the move is aimed at suppressing dissent and weakening the right to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Delhi Police on Monday de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated venue for protests and demonstrations, naming Ramlila Maidan, north Delhi’s Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as alternative sites. The order followed recommendations by a committee constituted by the Union home ministry to examine alternative venues.
The CPI(M) Politburo condemned the decision, alleging that it reflected the BJP-led Union government’s “growing intolerance of dissent and its contempt for the constitutional right to peaceful protest”.
The party said Delhi Police had routinely denied permission for protests at Jantar Mantar and the de-notification has formalised restrictions that were earlier imposed through arbitrary police measures.
Rejecting the alternative venues, the CPI(M) said they could not offer the visibility, accessibility and proximity to centres of political power that had made Jantar Mantar an important platform for democratic expression.
“The objective is to push public protests away from the centres of political power, depriving them of the visibility, accessibility and proximity that have made Jantar Mantar an important platform for democratic expression,” a statement issued on Tuesday said.
The Politburo asserted that Jantar Mantar would continue to be a public place of protest and said all efforts to stop peaceful demonstrations at the site would be resisted.
The de-notification came on Monday following over a week of protests in Delhi over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with demands for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have held demonstrations over the allegations, while police restrictions, barricades and detentions have repeatedly thwarted attempts to assemble at Jantar Mantar.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also continued to press for permission to protest at the site, arguing that it is the designated venue for demonstrations.
Earlier in the day, CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by police after they reached Jantar Mantar despite heavy barricading and a strong security presence.
(PTI News)
