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'Hands off our Jantar Mantar': CJP reacts sharply to HC's remarks on protest site
The CJP last month had spearheaded the students’ agitation at Jantar Mantar against the NEET-UG paper leak.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Friday said it "will not tolerate taking away" Jantar Mantar as a protest site, hours after the Delhi High Court expressed reservations against the use of the venue located at the heart of the Capital.
The CJP last month had spearheaded the students’ agitation at Jantar Mantar against the NEET-UG paper leak that ultimately led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister.
“HANDS OFF our Jantar Mantar! Before trying to take away our protest site, tell us if you will designate the India Gate where we can exercise our fundamental right to peacefully protest. You took away the India Gate. We will not tolerate taking away of OUR Jantar Mantar too!” Das said on X.
On July 19, a day before the CJP’s proposed march to Parliament, the Delhi Police said that Jantar Mantar is adesignated protest site and demonstrations are allowed to be held at the venue with prior permission.
In November last year, Delhi Police had detained several people protesting at India Gate against air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).“India Gate is not a protest site. The designated protest site in New Delhi is Jantar Mantar, as per the Supreme Court’s directions. That is why we have advised everyone to follow the guidelines. At India Gate, people come along with their families to enjoy, and it is a national monument. There are VIP routes here; we are deployed here regularly,” New Delhi district DCP Devesh Kumar Mahla was quoted as saying by ANI.
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Das’s remarks came against the backdrop of the Delhi High Court’s observation that demonstrations at a centrally located venue like the Jantar Mantar unnecessarily “hold the entire city to ransom”.
“According to me, these things should not happen in the city, but it’s the government’s call. Law and order is the police’s department. Why should the city be put to ransom unnecessarily?,” a bench of Justice Amit Mahajan said.
“Personally, if you have to ask me, I have a different view. I don’t think protests should happen inside the city,” he added.
The judge, however, said the government must take the final call on such matters since law and order falls within the police’s domain.
The court was hearing a petition seeking permission for a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar on August 10 over the demand for extending Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians, when it made the remarks.
The petitioner, the All India Dalit Christian Rights Protection Committee, said it had approached the Delhi Police on July 9 to seek permission to hold a three-hour protest without any march, overnight tents, hunger strike or occupation of public roads but the request was yet to be decided.
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The Delhi Police, however, said it would decide on the matter by Saturday. It also said the Supreme Court is due to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) against the use of Jantar Mantar as a protest site.
On July 20, CJP’s proposed protest march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament turned chaotic when police resorted to lathi-charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
“According to me, these things should not happen in the city, but it’s the government’s call. Law and order is the police’s department. Why should the city be put to ransom unnecessarily?,” a bench of Justice Amit Mahajan said earlier in the day.
“Personally, if you have to ask me, I have a different view. I don’t think protests should happen inside the city. Why should this happen in the city when the entire city goes into… whether it’s the ambulances or otherwise,” he added.
The judge, however, said the government must take the final call on such matters since law and order falls within the police’s domain.
