Left parties slam Delhi curbs ahead of Jantar Mantar protest

Left parties have condemned the clampdown ahead of the October 10 mobilisation in Delhi and demanded access to Jantar Mantar. The row has sharpened concerns over curbs on peaceful protest even as the Supreme Court warned against a complete transport shutdown.

In Short

• Left parties alleged sweeping curbs disrupted travel and public movement nationwide
• Student detentions and surveillance reports intensified concerns over democratic space
• Supreme Court said authorities may regulate movement but cannot halt services

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 the 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 stopping the mobilisation. The crackdown comes as the Cockroach Janta Party prepares for a massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.

The joint statement, issued by the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc, said there were reports of students being detained in various places and of student organisations' offices being kept under surveillance. The parties said the curbs were also causing inconvenience to the general public. "We demand that the Delhi Police and the Union government stop intimidating and harassing prospective participants and refrain from arbitrary detention of people," they said, while urging 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 was no "complete prohibition" on metro and train services to Delhi on October 10, saying it could not bring everything to a halt. The top court said law enforcement agencies could take steps to restrict unruly movement, but 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 the barricading and security deployment were creating an atmosphere of intimidation. "We will take up this issue very seriously," he said, adding that the Left parties would take part 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 reopened, and the detention of activists 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 curbs 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 pressed their demand for the protest to be allowed at Jantar Mantar.

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