- MHA committee denotifies Jantar Mantar as protest site.
- Site became protest hub after 1993 Boat Club restrictions.
- The Supreme Court previously regulated protests, not banned them.
As the controversy surrounding the Jantar Mantar protests intensifies, a committee established by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has denotified the historical site as an official demonstration ground. The decision follows the committee's review to identify suitable alternative venues for public protests and demonstrations.
Jantar Mantar became a designated protest site in 1993, after large demonstrations were restricted at the traditional Boat Club lawns near Parliament due to law and order and crowd control concerns.
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As trade unions, farmers, students, pensioners, ex-servicemen, displaced communities, activists and families seeking justice increasingly gathered there, the road adjoining the 18th-century observatory evolved into the country's most recognisable address for peaceful protest.
How Did Jantar Mantar Emerge As Protest Site
As India gained independence from British rule, the capital's biggest demonstrations started to take place at the Boat Club lawns near the India Gate. Several groups also conducted demonstrations behind the Red Fort for days or weeks, waiting for ministers to hear their demands.
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As per a judgement by the Supreme Court in 2018, it was noted that the practice changed in the 1980s, after a farmers' protest took place under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Tikait. Citing security and public order concerns, authorities had restricted demonstrations at Boat Club. By 1993, Jantar Mantar Road had emerged as the designated venue in central Delhi where people could stage dharnas and demonstrations.
Around 25 years later, locals approached National Green Tribunal, arguing that the residential neighbourhood had significant become a permanent protest site. The Central body highlighted that demonstrators often stayed for weeks or months, erected temporary structures and tents, used loudspeakers, left behind garbage and disrupted daily life.
Following the plea, the protests were ordered to be shifted to Ramlila Maidan. The judgement was challenged before Supreme Court by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), farmers' organisations, the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement and others. The group argued the decision affected citizens' fundamental right to peacefully assemble and would move demonstrations away from Parliament and the seat of government, making them less visible and more difficult, particularly for poorer protesters.
Following this, the apex court held residents were entitled to peace and a clean environment, citizens also had a fundamental right to peaceful protest. Instead of completely prohibiting demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, the court directed authorities to regulate them through a framework of guidelines.
The 302-Year Old Historical Site
Between 1724 and 1730, Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur built five astronomical observatories across northern India. Each one, known as a Jantar Mantar, is a collection of individual structures, with every building designed to perform a specialised function for astronomical measurement. The name Jantar Mantar is derived from a Sanskrit word, which means an "instrument used for calculation".
Maharaja Jai Singh made the first observatory in Delhi in 1724. the one in Delhi. The Jaipur observatory, followed next, with smaller versions built in Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. The structure in Mathura, no longer exists, as it was demolished before 1857.