Delhi Braces for CJP Protest: 35,000 Police Deployed, 46 Metro Stations Shut

Delhi Police have deployed more than 35,000 personnel, including paramilitary forces, across the national capital ahead of a protest announced by CJP at Jantar Mantar on October 10, even as organisers said they would go ahead despite permission for the demonstration being denied.

Entry points to Delhi have been cordoned off and 46 Metro stations remain closed, officials said, as part of arrangements aimed at preventing a repeat of the incidents of July 20. The Union Home Secretary has written to states and Union Territories directing them to maintain the law-and-order situation.

Police personnel on duty are wearing body cameras that can record in low light. A Delhi Police official told ANI that the cameras were meant to protect both officers and members of the public. “In situations of manhandling, allegations are levelled against Delhi Police. These body cams will show whether we did anything to anyone or not,” the official said.

The demonstration is aimed at seeking accountability over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an exercise carried out by the Election Commission. CJP has called for a large mobilisation at Jantar Mantar, saying in an Instagram post: “10th October. Jantar Mantar 2.0. We’re coming together again to raise our voice...” Thousands of people are expected to attend, according to the post.

Delhi Police have instructed their teams to detain anyone attempting to stage a protest, irrespective of location, and have asked Central Armed Police Forces units not to issue weapons for deployment related to the demonstration. Letters have been sent to the concerned directorates regarding the allotment plan. Unlike the deployment during the INDIA bloc protest, police teams have now been authorised to carry lathis and batons. In view of what officials described as deliberate attempts to record and circulate videos portraying police personnel in a negative light, teams have been told to avoid verbal confrontations with protesters.

Detained protesters are to be shifted to six designated centres: Chhatrasal Stadium, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex, Surajmal Stadium, a community centre in Daulatpur and a community centre in Pandrawal. Additional women personnel from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been called in for the October 10 protest. Multiple facial recognition systems, additional CCTV cameras, rooftop spotters and drones are expected to be deployed across Central Delhi. Several student outfits and political groups are also expected to join the demonstration.

A few protesters were detained near Janpath in the Connaught Place area on Saturday.

Abhijeet Dipke, a CJP activist, left Mumbai for Delhi and described the scale of the deployment as a sign of the government’s fear. “I feel the Prime Minister is scared of the youth and the people of this country... What was the need to shut down railways, metros and the internet? You brought the army from Jammu and Kashmir and deployed them in Delhi. You brought CRPF forces from Naxal areas and deployed them in Delhi,” he told ANI. The claims about the movement of specific forces could not be independently verified.

Mr Dipke said protesting is a fundamental right. “Article 19 gives us the right to protest in a democratic and peaceful manner, and that is what we are going to do. If they want to detain or arrest me, they can. Apply UAPA or NSA, apply it, but we will keep fighting for free and fair elections,” he said.

Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution guarantee freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemble peaceably and without arms, subject to reasonable restrictions that the State may impose in the interests of public order, among other grounds. Courts have held that the right to protest is not absolute and that police may impose conditions on the time, place and manner of an assembly, while also holding that such restrictions must be reasonable and proportionate.

Delhi Police said the measures were taken to maintain public order. Organisers said they would proceed with the protest peacefully.