Delhi police end Jantar Mantar's status as protest site used for decades

Delhi Police said this week that Jantar Mantar, a narrow tree-lined road beside an 18th-century astronomical observatory near India's parliament, will no longer be a designated protest site. It had held that role for more than three decades, and the decision affects where Indians can voice dissent in the heart of the capital.

What led to the decision

Police say they acted after the Supreme Court suggested identifying alternative sites with adequate infrastructure. The move comes months after the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party, a collective that began as a joke and is not a political party, held a large protest there demanding the resignation of federal education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Tens of thousands attended, and Pradhan later resigned. Police barricaded the road soon afterwards and blocked further demonstrations. Last week, an attempt by supporters to march there and demand the resignation of India's election chief ended in a police crackdown.

The alternatives

Protesters have been directed to three other sites. Two are far from parliament, while the third, the sprawling Ramlila Ground, is often booked months ahead. Unlike free-of-charge Jantar Mantar, all three cost tens of thousands of rupees a day. Critics argue this could put protest beyond the reach of ordinary people.

A site with a long history

Jantar Mantar became a protest venue in 1993, when the Congress government of the time stopped allowing demonstrations on the Boat Club lawns opposite the old parliament. Historian Harleen Kaur has traced how governments since the 1960s introduced rules that moved protests further from parliament. In 2008, activist Rachna Dhingra and hundreds of others camped there for about five months, seeking support for survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak. In 2017 the National Green Tribunal had the road closed to protests, but the Supreme Court overturned that a year later, citing constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

The Supreme Court is still hearing pleas challenging the removal of the site's protest status. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and the collective's leaders say Jantar Mantar belongs to the people and will be "reclaimed".