As Jantar Mantar denotifed as protest site, a look at agitations held at 18th century observatory
New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar is no longer a “designated site” for protests, the Delhi Police announced on Monday. Three new venues — the Ramlila Ground in Central Delhi, the Burari Ground in North Delhi, and the CBD Ground in East Delhi — have been designated as sites for organising protests and demonstrations.
A notice issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar said: “(The) Ministry of Home Affairs, had constituted a Committee to examine alternative proper venues for citizen’s right for organizing protest/demonstrations in place of the existing ‘designated site’. Based on the Committee’s recommendations, Jantar Mantar as a protest venue has been de-notified.”
The move evoked strong reactions from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). “Unacceptable. Why is Narendra Modi scared of Jantar Mantar? The Jantar Mantar belongs to THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. Did the Ministry of Home Affairs consult with the people of India? Were any stakeholders consulted? Were any organisations consulted? Take it in writing—just how they are denotifying people’s Jantar Mantar, the Prime Minister will soon denotify democracy in India. This move is a step towards that. We do not accept this arbitrary decision. It is an assault on people’s fundamental right to protest and peaceful assembly. Ab poora desh Jantar Mantar ban raha he!,” CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said in a post on X.
The wide footpath or lane abutting Jantar Mantar, the 18th-century observatory, has become synonymous with protests of all kinds over the years.
The story of Jantar Mantar as a protest site began in 1993. There was no ordinance, no official declaration, yet the tree-lined boulevard that connects Tolstoy Road to the Ashoka Road roundabout came to be the only place in New Delhi where Section 144 — the 19th-Century British-era law that prohibits the assembly of more than five people — was not imposed. That year, the capital got its new dissent square — Jantar Mantar.
Until then, at a time when Delhi was still to expand its boundaries southwards and eastwards, it was the Boat Club, with its view of Janpath, Rajpath and Parliament, that was the iconic space for resistance. But with the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid movement gripping the country, the Congress-led government, already rattled by an earlier agitation in 1988 led by western Uttar Pradesh farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait., imposed a ban on gatherings at the Boat Club.
But after that, it became apparent to successive governments that the protest venue had to be controlled. Jantar Mantar seemed ideal at the time. Though it was close to Parliament, it was not large enough to hold a big crowd. Besides, the topography of Jantar Mantar, with its two main entry and exit points, was easier to manage.
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In October 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appealed to the SC to ban protests at Jantar Mantar after some residents of the area argued that they had to put up with noise pollution and unhygienic surroundings. The NGT found merit in their plea and asked authorities to shift the protesters to an alternative site — Ramlila Maidan, about 4 km away. The tribunal cited three grounds while issuing these directions — there is no executive order that demarcates Jantar Mantar as a ‘protest site’, that it’s marked as a ‘residential area’ in the Delhi Master Plan and finally, that the agitations caused noise pollution.
However, in July 2018, the Supreme Court ruled against a total ban on protests in the Jantar Mantar and Boat Club area, subject to regulations regarding the manner in which they are organised and the number of people attending the protests.
One of the most significant protests at the venue in the recent past were on April 5, 2011, when Anna Hazare, then a relatively unknown social activist from Maharashtra, began a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar to root out corruption and to demand a Lokpal Bill. The movement snowballed, with prominent activists such as Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal joining in, finally leading to the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The venue has been the site of various other landmark political protests.
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Between March and April 2017, debt-ridden farmers from Tamil Nadu held an agitation in the national capital for 40 days and demanded a Rs 40,000-crore drought relief package, debt waiver and setting up of the Cauvery Management Board by the Centre. They carried out dramatic protests, including using skulls, holding dead rats in their mouths to indicate that they will be forced to eat rodents if the situation worsens, and even threatening to slit their throats if their demands weren’t met.
They suspended their protest on April 25 that year when then CM Eppadi K Palaniswami met the farmers and promised to take up the issue with the Prime Minister. He also maintained that his government had discussed the issue with then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Later in the day, Palaniswami met PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the NITI Aayog governing council meeting. By the end of the day, the farmers announced suspension of the agitation.
On August 6, 2019, students from some city colleges along with activists gathered at Jantar Mantar in the afternoon to protest the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir by the central government.
Addressing the gathering, All India Progressive Women’s Association secretary Kavita Krishnan said: “The Delhi government wants that Delhi’s status be changed to full statehood. If one night, the Central government comes and makes Delhi a part of Haryana, they will say that it is a violation of federalism. But does the principle of federalism not apply to Kashmir?”
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On December 19 2019, a massive crowd gathered to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Lawyers participating in the demonstration offered legal assistance to protestors in case they were detained by the Delhi Police. The protestors, including students and activists, gathered at Jantar Mantar after they were not allowed to hold demonstrations near the Red Fort and Mandi House, where prohibitory orders had been imposed. A human chain was formed at both Jantar Mantar and Red Fort to make space for Muslim protesters to offer ‘namaaz’.
On March 13, 2023, at the start of the second part of Parliament’s Budget session, five farmer unions from Punjab staged a protest against the Union government at Jantar Mantar over issues of CBI searches at properties of farmers’ leaders and long-standing demands on loan waivers and Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Farmers earlier took part in a procession from the Gurudwara Shri Bangla Sahib in the city while carrying flags and placards.
The protest site was also witness to protests against the death of 19-year-old Arunachali student Nido Tania in 2014; the justice for Nirbhaya campaign in 2012, among others.
