Barely a month after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest ended, Jantar Mantar is once again the site of a standoff - this time against caste-based reservation. Protesters under the banner of “Reservation Hatao Andolan” arrived on Friday morning and sparred with the Delhi Police over permission to hold their demonstration. Police asked them to move to Ramlila Maidan, but the group refused to budge. “We are setting up our stage here at Jantar Mantar and are not going to shift. We have been here since morning, and the numbers are increasing. We are not going to leave this place,” Abhishek Agnihotri, one of the organisers, told The Indian Express. Agnihotri, along with a man named Harsh Dubey, claimed they are running a ‘Reservation Reform Movement’, which advocates the abolition of caste-based reservation in the country. Police later issued a no-objection certificate allowing up to 500 protesters to hold a peaceful demonstration at Ramlila Maidan until 4 pm. The protesters, however, said they wouldn’t leave. Must Read | My house help’s experience, and a question: How can reservations go when caste hasn’t? On Thursday, the Delhi Police issued a rebuttal to social media posts circulating about permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar. Police said that no permission had been granted to anyone to hold a protest at the site as prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS (erstwhile Section 144 of the CrPC) are in force in the New Delhi district. Police also advised citizens not to amplify, forward or share unverified content. It added that legal action could be initiated against individuals found creating or disseminating fake news. However, on Friday, a group of young people reached Jantar Mantar and began staging a protest. In the afternoon, the Delhi Police offered Ramlila Maidan as an alternative venue. A letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) addressed to Agnihotri and Dubey said the request to hold the “Reservation Hatao Andolan” at Ramlila Maidan had been considered and that police had “no objection” from a law-and-order perspective. The permission was for a maximum of 500 people. Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan are around 3 km apart but fall under separate police districts. The group gained attention during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar, when its members announced that they would soon launch a protest at the venue demanding the abolition of reservation in the country.
