Ignoring hurdles Delhi comes out to protest at Jantar Mantar

New Delhi: Being there at Jantar Mantar was not easy for common citizens in Delhi today. Those who managed to reach here, belonging to different social strata and age group, had walked for miles after braving the winter chill and abandoning their vehicles or public transport some distance from the venue. They were all driven by a single thought: the death of a 23-year old brave woman should stir the conscience of society and government to make Delhi and rest of the country a more secure place to live. A number of police barricades, closure of various stretches of roads, shutting all metro stations in the New Delhi area and diversions for buses and cars led to the nation’s capital looking more like a garrison town at war, or in this case like one not at peace with its own people. Prohibitory laws was clamped by authorities in areas of central Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_572665” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Despite the hurdles presented by authorities hundreds gathered at Jantar Mantar. PTI[/caption] If there was a trickle of people in the morning hours, people managed to gather in Jantar Mantar in large numbers by afternoon and evening. As the sun set and darkness descended, candles were lit as were numerous torches. The message was clear: that a rising young India was no longer going to be indifferent to the apathetic attitude of the different arms of the state. The brutality of the incident touched hearts and weighed heavily on minds. Those gathered believed that the new awakening may not have too much of an impact immediately, but they were convinced that a beginning to usher in change has been made. Unlike the protests at India Gate and Rajghat a week ago where people, mostly young students gathered in thousands, giving vent of their anger by occasionally charging at barricades around India Gate, Parliament House and Raisina Hill; the atmosphere at Jantar Mantar was one of grief and pain. If some found complete silence to be the best mode of protest, others preferred chanting for justice; some displayed innovative posters while others preferred simply lying down in the street as a mark of protest. A group of JNU students marched from their campus to Munirika, the place where the victim had taken that bus on which the horrific crime was committed. The sense of anger against the political class in general and government of the day was visible when Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit reached Jantar Mantar to light a candle to express her solidarity with the victim. An agitated crowd shouted slogans against her, forcing her to retreat. The protesters demanded answers about where she was when they were protesting in front of her residence and India Gate. But since today’s mood was more reflective, the crowd did not go beyond simply registering their protest. Dikshit has been at loggerheads with Delhi Police over the gangrape and the handling of the subsequent protests, but people gathered at Jantar Mantar saw her as someone who was out to use the occasion to score a political point over some of her own long standing grievances against the police. Traffic restrictions and heavy police bandobast prevented many women from coming out to protest, as compared to the last weekend, but many walked long distances to ensure their voice was a part of the being sent to the authorities.