Asha Dubey is sitting on one side of a central Delhi backstreet, wearing a wornout saree and holding on to a water bottle, two plastic rugs, and some hope for justice. The 45-year-old says she was a senior clerk in a Madhya Pradesh government department when her salary was unfairly stopped in 1996.  

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“They did not even suspend me. There was no charge-sheet either. Had they paid me salary even in 2001, I would have been married… with a 15-year-old child now,” she says, showing a clutch of old government documents to back her case.

This is Dubey’s 11th year at Jantar Mantar, India’s most famous protest arena where dozens of groups and individuals can be seen on any given day in support of their demands — ranging from genuine to preposterous. Just stroll past the Parliament and head a few hundred yards north and you will see people demanding cleaner rivers, quota benefits, pension funds, disability grants and even a corruption-free government. Others want justice for godmen held for sexual offences and violence. Lone campaigners hand out leaflets to curious passersby.

Home away from home

Some, like Dubey, make the tree-lined sidestreet — barricaded behind some of Delhi’s swankiest hotels and most famous landmarks — their home. A stone’s throw from India’s corridors of power, much of the country’s anger and dissent find a voice.  In his book India after Gandhi, Ramchandra Guha rightly calls Jantar Mantar a “mini India”. It’s Delhi’s own Speakers’ Corner — an area in London’s Hyde Park where open-air public speaking, debate and discussion are allowed.

Jantar Mantar has witnessed several iconic protests, including Anna Hazare’s 2011 fast for a Lokpal Bill and people’s protest against the December 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape. Leaders such as Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Aam Admi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal, now Delhi’s Chief Minister, have been frequent visitors. It is a good place to catch the eye of journalists milling around Parliament.

Pooja (25) has been protesting here for three years now. She has the photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Tamil Nadu’s former Chief Minister, the late J Jayalalithaa. She wants justice for Amma, a common reference for Jayalalithaa.

“We did a huge protest when Amma was jailed on corruption charges in 2014. She had helped me a lot and taught me how to use law for justice,” she says, her voice drowned out in a cacophony of competing voices on loudspeakers from nearby protests being held to champion a string of causes. The popular leader died under mysterious circumstances in December last year.  

Retired defence personnel clamour for the implementation of the ‘One Rank One Pension’ scheme

Pooja is from Kerala and was brought up in Delhi. She claims to have a house in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, but chooses to stay at the Capital’s official protest street.  

There used to be people living here for over a decade, having set up makeshift tents. They all were removed 45 days ago in an anti-encroachment drive by the police and municipal authorities. Some have again returned “home”.

Life at Jantar Mantar

Mornings at Jantar Mantar Road are usually quiet with “residents” doing regular chores like queuing outside public toilets. Men and children bathe under a government-aided water tanker, while women visit the nearby Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. People have tea at stalls set up every day for years.

As the day progresses,  protesters start entering the site. While some come in large gatherings, usually in buses, others come in small groups as the smell of freshly-cooked rajma, sambhar and kadhi, besides other street food, wafts down the road.

A kulfi-wala offers some respite to the protestors from the scorching heat

The protests

These days, the largest gathering that can be seen is for Haryana’s self-styled godman Rampal who was arrested in 2014 after a two-week standoff between the police and his followers.

In the neighbourhood, protests have been on for more than two years now for uniform pensions for retired defence personnel. In 2015, a farmer hanged himself from a tree in front of horrified onlookers at Jantar Mantar Road during a rally being addressed by Kejriwal.

“Injustice has been done to us in several ways. We are protesting silently and have put our demands in the open,” says Haryana’s 85-year-old Vishambhar who has been living in a camp for the past two years. Despite government claims, sections of retired soldiers have been alleging that many of their concerns about disparity in pension payments have not been addressed.

Mahesh Kumar Jakkad of Rajasthan’s Lakshmangarh has a different grudge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We had high expectations from Modi ji who had promised he would bring back black money stashed in foreign bank accounts. But nothing happened,” he says as policemen walk past and intelligence sleuths take notes around the corner.

A large group of men and women can also be seen condemning a police firing on protesting farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur that claimed six lives early last month. While most look towards the stage, trying to make sense of the speeches, two kulfi-walas offer some respite from the scorching heat.

A Delhi government tanker is always parked outside Jantar Mantar for protestors to cool off

There are also several small protests over a host of causes. When speeches are made, it’s impossible to hear anyone who is not using a microphone. Almost every protest brings its own audience which sits holding posters and repeats slogans from time to time. Slogans become ear-splittingly louder when mediapersons approach.

Brisk business

There are some who love the noise. They manage to score some space between protests and offer a wide range of products: earphones, chargers, slippers, clothes for children, carrying bags, cut-sleeve jackets, just in case one needs any. “I have been coming here daily for the past three years. My sale depends on gatherings. Sometimes I go home quickly, sometimes I even refill my stock and come back. On days when it is not good, I go to India Gate,” says 29-year-old Kanhaiya Lal who sells rice-papad.

Fight for justice

As the evening approaches, the large gathering becomes thinner and vendors start walking towards Connaught Place or India Gate leaving the place for the people like Dilip Kumar who plan to stay overnight. He came here with his wife and four children from West Bengal after they were attacked and harassed by local goons with political links. He says that he tried his best to file an FIR and press for legal action but he could not. Like Asha, Kusum Lata Sharma (40) of Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi has also been here for 11 years. She wants action against some politicians who allegedly raped her.  

There are some who come here seeking intervention from PM Modi himself, even in matters related to property or neighbourhood disputes. A former soldier from Bihar, Ram Nandan Yadav, says he was fighting in the 1999 Kargil War when his neighbour illegally occupied his land. He has failed to get justice. Recently, he sent a petition to the PM’s office. “We help the ones who come to us with hopes of meeting the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. We help them file applications. We even try to set up meetings,” says Ashok Kumar, SHO, Parliament Street police station.

A routine protest at Jantar Mantar

THE PAST

The road was named Jantar Mantar after the nearby 18th-century astronomical observatory of the same name. In the early 1990s, protesters in Delhi used to be able to march up and down Rajpath, the thoroughfare which sweeps past the Presidential palace and major government ministries. But authorities then began imposing restrictions, eventually designating Jantar Mantar Road as one of the few places where protesters could gather.

THE PRESENT

Apart from Ramlila Maidan, Jantar Mantar Road is the only place in Delhi where protests can be held. For a protest involving a minimum of 5,000 people at Jantar Mantar, prior permission has to be taken from the Delhi police. In 2015, 4,896 protests/dharnas/rallies took place at Jantar Mantar road with prior intimation. In 2016, it rose to 4,921. Many applications for protests sent to the police refer to the place as rashtriya dharna sthal (national protest site).

THE FUTURE

The future may be different. In May this year, the National Green Tribunal pulled up officials for not exploring alternative sites. In the same month, the Delhi High Court asked them if there was any difficulty in shifting the protests to Ramlila Maidan. This was after some petitioners complained of noise and congestion.

THE DRUG MENACE

The place is also a drug haven. Vendors act as go-betweens if one wants good quality “stuff”. “Langda” will organise everything. Sitting in a made-up tent, surfing Facebook on his mobile phone with earphones on, he dwells in a world away from the routine protests. His customers? They are everyone, from protesters to visitors, sometimes even mediapersons.

I was a senior clerk in MP when my salary was unfairly stopped in 1996. Had they paid me salary even in 2001, I would have been married… with a 15-year-old child now—Asha Dubey, at Jantar Mantar for 11 years

PROTESTS IN 2016

  • 3,206 Dharnas  
  • 1,460 Demonstrations  
  • 18 Processions  
  • 23 Religious rallies  
  • 214 Miscellaneous events  
  • Total 4,921

(Source: Police record, New Delhi District)