Jantar Mantar Falls Silent: Right To Protest Vs Residents' Rights?
It's been India's protest square for close to three decades. Jantar Mantar in the national capital has been witness to the Nirbhaya protests, Anna Hazare's Lokpal agitation, even the recent #NotInMyName campaign. But it finally fell silent today as police and civic officials evicted military veterans protesting OROP implementation and uprooted their tents and temporary structures. Should veterans have been treated like this? And it's not just them. For many protesters from around the country, Jantar Mantar with its proximity to Parliament was the one way of making sure their voice was heard. They say no other protest site will have the same resonance. But must their democratic right to protest come at the cost of resident's peace of mind? We ask on The Buck Stops Here.
