New Delhi: “On the birthday of the biggest ambassador of Satyagraha, we, the people of India, aren’t even being allowed inside Jantar Mantar,” said Sonia Matthew (76), a social worker who attended the protest in July at the site and participated in numerous demonstrations over the years.
So was Avijit (22), a student from St Stephen’s College. He had been waiting with his friends at Patel Chowk metro station since 9 am, expecting Jantar Mantar to fill up again. Sanjana (28), a researcher who helps Delhi jhuggi dwellers secure legal representation, was looking for a way to reach out to her friend who was detained.
First, they impinged on our voting rights, now even the right to protest is endangered,” Avijit said, adding that cops were cracking down on anyone headed for the site. At least in June, they would let us inside the site if we weren’t obstructing them,” she said. They are too cautious to let us in, let alone allowing us to protest,” she said.
She was among those who tried returning to Jantar Mantar Friday, but couldn’t. However, they were prevented from reaching the site’s back gate, with police swinging into action well before they could get a sight of the venue. Having reviewed their handling of the June-July protest that eventually led to the resignation of then education minister, police stepped up preparations this time. For those who tried to return to Jantar Mantar for what they saw as a second round of agitation, its tightening perimeter was hard to miss. “They are taking away our rights one by one. “With the routes being repeatedly blocked, we were left with no choice but to sit in the middle of the road. “Police have not left any room for the protesters, unlike the last time.
Anjana, an assistant professor from Hisar, travelled with her husband a day earlier and took five detours around the protest site before making it halfway through Leo Tolstoy Marg.
But I couldn’t tell the cops that,” he said, adding that six of 12 members of his family were issued notices despite them living in northeast Delhi’s Seemapuri since 1985 and their names being on the draft list. However, some managed to slip past tight security. Anil Kumar, a student, walked past a checkpoint by telling cops that he was on his way for langar at a nearby gurdwara. “I was actually going to protect my constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote.