Within an hour of AISA activist Neha Bora announcing on X that Dilli Haat would be the new protest site, the roadside turned into an “impromptu Jantar Mantar”, with protesters blocking traffic for almost half an hour. New Delhi: With Jantar Mantar out of reach and Lutyens’ Delhi sealed behind barricades and police cordons, protesters found another place to make their voices heard: the middle of a road in INA.
“At the end of the day, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees us the right to freedom of speech and expression. Who are they to tell us we need permission?” asked Maansi Verma, a 31-year-old lawyer who took two detours to reach INA. Among those who answered Bora’s call was 65-year-old Seema Kumari, who walked to INA.
Because they have put Jantar Mantar out of our reach,” she said, we have gathered here.
But we will make a Jantar Mantar out of every place we stand in,” Ali said. “They have stopped us from expressing dissent everywhere. They have closed off Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site, shut down the metro and taken away internet connectivity, thinking we will bow down. Many noted how the makeshift protest was a stark contrast to July, when demonstrators could at least assemble at one designated place and set up a camp. As more people, including those not associated with All India Students’ Association, joined the protest, and the busy stretch came to a standstill behind the sloganeering demonstrators for almost half an hour, police decided to catch up. They moved in with detention buses, taking protesters away from the middle of the road. “Police must understand that we are here for a just cause.