Jantar Mantar witnessed another large mobilisation on Friday as hundreds of protesters gathered under the banner of the “Reservation Hatao Andolan”, demanding changes to India’s caste-based reservation system and prompting a heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel. Several protesters were detained as authorities sought to control the gathering, which went ahead at Jantar Mantar despite police permission having been granted for a demonstration at Ramlila Ground instead.
The scenes were reminiscent of the large CJP mobilisation at the same venue last month, with protesters carrying banners, posters and saffron flags and raising slogans against the existing reservation system. The latest demonstration was largely mobilised through social media, with participants arguing that economic circumstances rather than caste should become the principal basis for affirmative action and government support. The turnout was significant despite confusion and warnings over permission for the protest.
Crowds reach Jantar Mantar
Delhi Police had clarified ahead of Friday’s mobilisation that no permission had been granted for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar. Authorities had instead issued a no-objection certificate for a peaceful gathering at Ramlila Ground, about three kilometres away, with participation capped at 500 people and permission extending until 4 p.m. Protesters, however, continued arriving at Jantar Mantar, turning the designated protest zone in central Delhi into the focal point of the agitation.
Security had been strengthened in anticipation of the gathering, with barricades erected and Delhi Police personnel deployed alongside paramilitary forces. As the crowd grew, police and RAF personnel detained several participants. Visuals from the site showed protesters being taken away by security personnel even as others remained at the venue and continued raising slogans.
The mobilisation did not appear to have a conventional political organisation at its centre. The call had gathered momentum online, including through an Instagram page associated with the Reservation Hatao Andolan. The ability of such a campaign to translate online mobilisation into a substantial physical turnout has attracted attention, particularly following the CJP-led demonstrations that brought large numbers of young protesters to Jantar Mantar in July.
Economic criteria demanded
At the centre of Friday’s demonstration was opposition to caste-based reservation in its present form. Protesters argued that affirmative action should increasingly be determined by economic need and that benefits should reach those they described as genuinely disadvantaged, irrespective of caste. Some participants also raised objections to the University Grants Commission’s equity regulations and demanded changes relating to the SC/ST Act.
The protest brought a politically sensitive issue back into public focus. Reservation in education and government employment has long been justified as a means of addressing historical discrimination and structural social disadvantage faced by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. At the same time, demands for economic criteria and changes to the existing framework have periodically generated political movements across different States.
Friday’s demonstrators sought to place those demands before the Centre, with protesters saying they wanted to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some participants indicated that they would remain at the protest site until their demands were formally conveyed.
CJP scenes recalled
The size and character of the gathering drew comparisons with the CJP protests that had taken place at Jantar Mantar in July. Those demonstrations, driven substantially by students and young people, had also demonstrated the capacity of social-media-led campaigns to rapidly bring large crowds into the heart of the national capital.
The July agitation subsequently became a major political controversy following clashes and allegations over police action against protesters. The issue remained in the spotlight on Friday itself, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in at a Delhi police station while demanding an FIR over alleged pellet injuries suffered by a student during the July 20 protest.
The emergence of another sizeable gathering at Jantar Mantar within weeks consequently presented the police with a fresh crowd-management challenge. Authorities had attempted to avoid precisely such a situation by directing Friday’s protest to Ramlila Ground, but the mobilisation ultimately converged on Jantar Mantar.
Online calls turn physical
The protest also underlined a changing pattern in public mobilisation. Campaigns without the organisational machinery traditionally associated with political parties or established unions can now build momentum online before appearing as large physical gatherings with relatively little notice.
For Delhi Police, that creates the challenge of balancing the right to peaceful protest with restrictions governing venues, crowd sizes and security in central Delhi. For the political establishment, the gathering carries a different message: contentious questions surrounding reservation continue to possess the capacity to mobilise significant numbers of people.
Friday’s demonstration ended up being about more than the permitted location of a protest. The large turnout, detentions and continuing presence of protesters at Jantar Mantar showed that the debate over how affirmative action should be structured remains politically potent — and that social media has provided emerging movements with a powerful new route from online discontent to the streets.