The Cockroach Janta Party on Monday set a 24-hour deadline for Parliament Street police station to act on its request for a date to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Hours after CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka submitted the application, Jantar Mantar was denotified as a designated protest site.
“We have given a 24-hour ultimatum for permission to protest at Jantar Mantar. Protesting is our constitutional right; it cannot be stopped indefinitely,” Ranka told reporters outside the police station.
He said the CJP would take a call on the next course of action after the expiry of the 24-hour deadline.
The CJP ultimatum on a date follows claims by the government and Delhi Police that they were not informed about the protest plan well in advance.
“We demand you respond to this letter within 24 hours from the time of receipt, failing which, protesters will have no choice but to continue the protest in a peaceful manner. The Cockroach Janta Party will also announce a new date for a mass protest if you fail to respond and allocate us the designated protest site — Jantar Mantar,” the CJP letter said.
The letter also underlined the fundamental right to protest and assemble peacefully.
“The adamancy of the administration and refusal to allocate an official, secure space for peaceful assembly i.e. Jantar Mantar, a historical designated protest site, has caused a lot of distress and discontentment among the people of our country,” the CJP said.
“Protesting peacefully is a constitutionally guaranteed right, and denying citizens the location where their safety and assembly can be assured has unnecessarily forced chaos and tension created by heavy-handed policing on your side and your open and blatant support to Right-wing extremist goons affiliated with the ruling BJP,” it added.
The pressure group said the current instability in the capital was created by the government and Delhi Police’s “administrative non-cooperation, and the solution lies squarely within your authority”.
It demanded the de-escalation of “heavy-handed” law enforcement presence, arbitrary and illegal detentions and harassment of independent journalists.
Ranka said security restrictions in the capital had shuttered local businesses and commercial establishments, causing severe financial hardship to ordinary citizens and disrupting public movement.
Heavy security deployment has been witnessed in the capital for three consecutive days. Six Metro stations were shut for 11 hours on Monday, inconveniencing employees in Lutyens’ Delhi.