marxistindia

news from the cpi(m)

October 12, 2026

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

CPI(M) PB Condemns Denial of Jantar Mantar as Designated Protest Site

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly condemns the decision to withdraw Jantar Mantar's status as a designated protest site at the behest of the Union Home Ministry. This is a highly undemocratic and authoritarian measure that reflects the BJP-led Union Government's growing intolerance of dissent and its contempt for the constitutional right to peaceful protest.

The Delhi Police have already made it a routine practice to deny permission for protests at Jantar Mantar. What was earlier pursued through arbitrary police restrictions has now been formalised through this decision. It is yet another attempt by the BJP government to suppress public anger against its anti-people policies.

The proposed alternative protest venues - Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground - are no substitute for Jantar Mantar. The objective is to push public protests away from the centres of political power, depriving them of the visibility, accessibility and proximity that have made Jantar Mantar an important platform for democratic expression. This amounts to an attempt to render public dissent invisible and politically ineffective.

The Polit Bureau asserts that Jantar Mantar will continue to be the public place of protest and all efforts to stop this will be resisted.

(Muralidharan) 

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office