Left parties slam Delhi curbs ahead of October 10 Jantar Mantar protest

Left parties have condemned Delhi's restrictions ahead of the October 10 mobilisation and asked police to allow the Jantar Mantar protest. The row intensified after the Supreme Court said transport to the capital cannot be brought to a complete halt.

In Short

• Parties alleged barricades, detentions and surveillance were stifling peaceful mobilisation
• Forty-five metro stations were shut, while some Delhi-bound trains were cancelled
• The Supreme Court said authorities cannot bring transport services to a halt

Left parties on Friday condemned the restrictions imposed ahead of the October 10 mobilisation against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the Election Commission's functioning, and demanded that Delhi Police allow protesters to assemble at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

In a joint statement, the parties said the denial of permission for the demonstration, extensive barricading, prohibitory orders, the closure of 45 metro stations, the cancellation of trains heading to Delhi, and alleged house arrests in different parts of the country were aimed at preventing the mobilisation. They also said the curbs were causing inconvenience to the general public.

"There are reports of students being put under detention in various places and the offices of student organisations are under surveillance," the statement issued by the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc said.

The crackdown comes as the Cockroach Janta Party prepares for a massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday. The Left parties said, "We demand that the Delhi Police and the Union government stop intimidating and harassing prospective participants and refrain from arbitrary detention of people," and urged the authorities to remove hurdles and permit the protest at Jantar Mantar.

CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby said the Supreme Court had heard the challenge to the restrictions on movement in Delhi, with senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the petitioners. According to Baby, the court observed that while the government could regulate movement, it could not stop traffic altogether, as students, workers and ordinary citizens also needed to travel.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to ensure there is no "complete prohibition" on metro and train services to Delhi on October 10, saying it cannot bring everything to a halt. The top court said that while law enforcement agencies can take steps to restrict unruly movement, citizens should not be unduly harassed. The Solicitor General said he would convey the suggestion to the authorities to consider an alternative designated site for the protest.

"Delhi has become a city of barricades," Baby said, alleging that barricading and the deployment of security personnel were creating an atmosphere of intimidation. "We will take up this issue very seriously," he said, adding that the Left parties would participate in Saturday's mobilisation.

Separately, CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding that Jantar Mantar be opened for the demonstration, metro stations be reopened, and the detention of activists be stopped. "Every method of reaching out to your insensitive government has been met with barricades and lathis," Kumar said in the letter. "I wish to make it categorically clear that turning Delhi into a military cantonment will not deter us," he said, alleging that transport restrictions and the detention of activists were preventing people from joining the mobilisation.

CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said, "Meanwhile, the CJI has advised the government not to use a hammer to kill a fly! Does that leave room for using hammers for cockroaches?" He said that with trains cancelled and metro services stopped, the government had "laid a siege around themselves and turned the whole of Delhi into a huge police camp or paramilitary cantonment". "Has independent India ever witnessed such fear of democracy and peaceful mass protest?" he said.

The joint statement was signed by Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, Bhattacharya, AIFB general secretary G Devarajan and RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya, as the Left parties reiterated their demand that authorities remove restrictions and allow Saturday's mobilisation at Jantar Mantar.

- Ends