NEW DELHI/HINGOLI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government after Delhi Police denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, warning that the move would not silence dissent and declaring that the entire country would become a centre of resistance.“Delhi is once again flooded with people standing up to save democracy. If Modi thinks taking away Jantar Mantar will put an end to protests, he is mistaken. Jantar Mantar is not just a location but a spirit of resistance that nobody can ever take away,” Dipke said in his latest post on X.In another post, Dipke warned that the government’s decision to remove Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest venues could deepen the confrontation over the right to demonstrate.“Today, Modi denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. Tomorrow, he will denotify democracy itself. The dictator’s problem was never the protest site. It was the very idea of people protesting,” the CJP founder asserted.The remarks came after Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar issued a standing order denotifying Jantar Mantar as a designated venue for protests and demonstrations. The police named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as alternative locations.The decision comes amid heightened security in the national capital following calls by the CJP and opposition leaders for demonstrations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Dipke is in his native village of Santuk Pimpri in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, where he arrived late on Sunday following the death of his grandmother. On Monday, he accused Delhi Police of subjecting him and his family to mental torture during his detention.According to news agency PTI, Dipke was detained by Delhi Police from an aircraft at Delhi airport on October 10 while he was on his way to Delhi to lead the CJP’s protest at Jantar Mantar.He alleged that his family and lawyer were kept in the dark about his whereabouts following his detention.Addressing reporters in his village, Dipke said the handling of the situation had added to his family’s distress at a time when they were grieving his grandmother’s death.“They wanted to stress me out and give tension to my parents, who were already grieving my grandmother’s death. This was mental torture that my family and I faced due to Delhi Police,” he said.Dipke also challenged the police account of the episode. Delhi Police had released a video stating that he was informed of his grandmother’s death sensitively and that assistance was offered to facilitate his travel.However, Dipke alleged that the footage was edited to conceal the police’s conduct and demanded the release of the complete, unedited recording.“If they told me about the death of my grandmother then why did they come with arrest papers to me at 3.30am and asked me to sign? They asked me to talk to my parents, but I said they had health issues and asked to call my cousin who was with my grandmother. But they did not even allow me to retrieve his number from the phone,” he alleged.
‘They should show the full video’
In a detailed account of his detention, Dipke alleged that police personnel did not tell his lawyers where he was being held and that he was asked to inform his family about his arrest and the possibility of a prolonged stay in jail.“Police didn’t even tell my lawyers where I was being held. And at 3:30 am, deliberately to cause further mental distress to my family, they asked me to inform them that I have been arrested and will be in jail for a long time.“That is the kind of insensitivity the Delhi Police have shown. The video they released was edited and trimmed. They should show the full video, specially the part where I asked for my phone to speak to my brother and my lawyers, and also the where I was crying after they broke the news to me. They chopped that out and immediately cut to the part where the police officer hands me two water bottles to make them look good.“But they didn’t show a young man crying over his grandmother’s death, because that wouldn’t have helped their image,” Dipke said.He further alleged that police personnel refused to let him access his mobile phone, even briefly, to retrieve his cousin’s contact number.“The police said they will get me connected to my brother and asked me to give them the number. I told them I didn’t remember the number. They said, “Why don’t you remember the number?” I replied, “Who actually remembers phone numbers these days? Everyone saves numbers on their mobile phones these days. Who memorises numbers like in the old days?”“They claimed, ‘We have the numbers memorised’. I told them, ‘You might, but we don’t’. I asked what is the problem with handing over the phone. I was asking for it for just two minutes. I told them that they can keep holding the phone in their hands and just let me open the phone to retrieve the number. They weren’t willing to do that,” he said.Dipke also alleged that the deployment of a large number of women police personnel on Delhi’s streets during the crackdown was a deliberate strategy to frame protesters if an untoward incident occurred. He maintained that protesters “know how to treat women with dignity.”Following his interaction with the media, Dipke visited the site in his village where his grandmother’s last rites were performed.
Why has Jantar Mantar been denotified?
According to the PTI report, Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar’s October 11 standing order followed a review by a committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to examine alternative venues where citizens could exercise their right to organise protests and demonstrations.“Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, had constituted a committee to examine alternative proper venues for citizens’ right to organise protest/demonstrations in place of the existing ‘designated site’,” the order read.The committee’s recommendations led to Jantar Mantar being denotified, with Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground designated as the new venues. The order said a detailed, revised standard operating procedure for organising demonstrations at the three locations would be issued separately. The directive partially modifies an earlier standing order dated April 28, 2022.The alternative venues are located at varying distances from Jantar Mantar. Ramlila Ground in Central District is around four kilometres away, CBD Ground in East District is 12 to 13 kilometres away, and Burari Ground in North District is nearly 21 kilometres away.The decision comes after a series of protests and heightened security arrangements in the New Delhi district, which houses Parliament and several key government establishments, official residences and offices. The district was virtually under lockdown in recent days after authorities refused permission for protests, causing inconvenience to office-goers, commuters and others.The area also includes New Delhi Railway Station and several Metro stations used by thousands of commuters daily. Police deployments, barricades, traffic diversions and restrictions on access to sensitive locations during large demonstrations can cause congestion and disrupt movement.The latest decision follows repeated calls for protests at Jantar Mantar by the CJP and opposition leaders demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and the deletion of voters from electoral rolls.On Monday, CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das visited the Parliament Street police station to demand a fresh date for holding a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.The site had also witnessed large demonstrations led by the CJP over the NEET-UG paper leak. PTI reported that the July 20 clashes in the New Delhi district had highlighted the security challenges associated with protests, after a small gathering escalated into a law-and-order situation, prompting police action and an investigation into the violence.Dipke has questioned why the government is protecting chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whose resignation the CJP and opposition parties have demanded.“Youth are being assaulted, journalists are being assaulted, even MPs are being assaulted by Delhi Police. What makes Gyanesh Kumar so indispensable to Modi that he is willing to wage war against everyone just to protect him?” Dipke asked on X.In another post targeting the Prime Minister, he said, “waging war against your own countrymen. You’re showing the country exactly what you are: a fascist dictator.”(With agency inputs)
