Why people protest at Jantar Mantar?

When King Jai Singh II of Jaipur built Jantar Mantar in 1724 as an astronomical observatory, he would never have imagined that the place will become more famous across the world for another reason – as an epicentre of protests and demonstrations.
   

From political parties to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, those protesting against the government or just an individual, they all want to sit in at Jantar Mantar. 

Over the years, the landmark red structure located just off Connaught Place has been forgotten as a monument and is known more as a protest site. Originally built as a tool for calculations, Jantar Mantar is no more famous for as an astronomical observatory meant to graph the path of celestial bodies. Over the past two decades, it has become a place where people from across the country come to voice their concerns and demands.

And more recently, the monument in the Capital has become the hub of what can be called one of India’s biggest mass movements against corruption, led by Anna Hazare. To be precise, the venue of unending protests is not the monument itself, but the adjacent Jantar Mantar Road. “The place which is allotted to the protesters is just a half-kilometre stretch of Jantar Mantar road from Tolstoy Road till Ashoka Road circle, and particularly the 300-metre stretch behind YMCA international Guest House,” Anil Kumar, station house officer of Parliament Street police station, said.

Always a crowded place

This stretch is continuously flooded with people, all seated under pitched tents and peacefully protesting for varied causes. Holding placards, distributing pamphlets, shouting slogans and, at times, marching on Parliament Street, the demonstrators sit there from dawn to dusk. 

The place is also a hub of sorts for photojournalists.

The small eateries, kiosks, tea shops on this stretch have no dearth of customers round-the-year. Protesters have been been heading towards Jantar Mantar particularly from around 1989, after an intervention by the Supreme Court shut them off from Boat Club, a place nearer to Parliament House. Before Jantar Mantar, it was at Boat Club lawns – running along both sides of Rajpath – where political parties and others gathered to register their protest.

From Boat Club to Jantar Mantar

Things changed after October 1988. Mahendra Singh Tikait led thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, along with their cattle, to the lawns of Boat Club. They took   over the place for about a week. Tikait supporters lit campfires on the lawns and  cooked their food there, Cattle dung piled up.  A public interest litigation (PIL) was then filed in the Supreme Court, asking that the government should find a new place for protests in the Capital.  “Thereafter, Jantar Mantar became a site for peaceful protests where crowds of up to 5000 were allowed. Similarly, Ramlila Ground became a place for peaceful rallies where  crowds up to 50,000 were allowed,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.  

From January 2006 to 2010, about 15,000 dharnas and 7,000 demonstrations, rallies and processions, altogether involving some two lakh people, were held at Jantar Mantar, said Anil Kumar.

But the biggest crowds came later.

When Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike in April 5, 2011 to exert pressure on the government to bring in a stringent anti-corruption law bill, Jantar Mantar Road became the centre of his movement. People came from across the nation to vent their anger.   The fast, which ended on April 9 — a day after the government accepted Hazare’s demands — witnessed a crowd of around 50,000 people.  Since then, police have come up with 21- point guidelines for the protesters to maintain law and order situation in the heart of the capital.

Police have made it mandatory for organisers of protests to take a no objection certificate from the land owning authority before holding a rally. The organisers have to make arrangements for drinking water and medical aid at the protest site and they must not let normal flow of traffic to be hampered. The guidelines also prohibit provocative speeches that may offend people from any group, religion or caste.

“It is only after protesters ensure in writing to abide by the apex court guidelines, that they are granted permission,” said Bhagat.

With four or five protests happening every day at Jantar Mantar Road, local residents have sought restrictions. They have lodged complaints with the Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations, saying the agitations have made their lives miserable. They have also gone to court.

The High Court has asked the government to look for new protest sites, while ensuring that protesters are not denied the right to express their point of view. With the government now scouting for a new site, Jantar Mantar might perhaps return being known for what Jai Singh II had intended it to be – an astronomical observatory.

This was written by me and was published in Deccan Herald