# Delhi ends three decades of protest at Jantar Mantar > Police bar demonstrations at India's most famous protest site, moving activists to distant venues they cannot afford. - Title: Delhi ends three decades of protest at Jantar Mantar - Summary: Police bar demonstrations at India's most famous protest site, moving activists to distant venues they cannot afford. Delhi Police has ended Jantar Mantar's… - Keywords: jantar mantar, delhi, protest, india, cockroach janta party, dharmendra pradhan, delhi police, free speech, activism, news, world, ends - Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6kgqjvdv4n2o - Published: 2026-10-17T00:41:58.018+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: jantar mantar, delhi, protest, india, cockroach janta party, dharmendra pradhan, delhi police, free speech, activism, news, world ## Delhi ends protest site status Delhi Police announced this week that Jantar Mantar, located near parliament, would no longer be a designated protest site after more than three decades. ## What triggered the decision The move came months after the Cockroach Janta Party, a Gen Z-led collective, led a massive protest demanding federal education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. Pradhan subsequently resigned. ## Police crackdown follows Police barricaded Jantar Mantar after the protests. Last week, an attempt by Cockroach Janta Party supporters to march there demanding India's election chief resign ended in a police crackdown. ## Three new sites, high costs Protesters have been directed to three alternative sites.Two are far from parliament, while the sprawling Ramlila Ground is often booked months in advance. ## Police justification Delhi Police says it acted after the Supreme Court suggested identifying alternative sites with adequate infrastructure for demonstrations. ## Critics' fears Critics say the move could push protests beyond the reach of ordinary Indians, further from the seat of power and into venues many cannot afford. ## Three decades of activism For more than thirty years, Indians gathered at Jantar Mantar to raise their voices against injustice. Farmers, students, grieving parents and ex-soldiers held placards and shouted slogans under its trees. ## How it became a protest site Jantar Mantar's story as a protest site began in nineteen ninety-three, when the then-Congress government stopped allowing demonstrations at the Boat Club lawns opposite the old parliament. ## Rachna Dhingra's five-month vigil Activist Rachna Dhingra camped at Jantar Mantar with hundreds of others for around five months in two thousand eight, demanding the government set up a commission for rehabilitation schemes for Bhopal gas leak survivors. > It can be lonely to protest but that place became a home for so many of us. We shared each other's stories, struggles and victories. ## Laws shaped at the site Academic Dipa Sinha saw ground-breaking laws take shape at Jantar Mantar, including a landmark rural jobs guarantee scheme, the National Food Safety Act and Forest Rights Act. ## Proximity to power mattered Jantar Mantar was three kilometres from Parliament House. Scholar Dipa Sinha notes it was also near institutions like the Press Club and Constitution Club, making it easier to get media coverage and for politicians to… ## Rules tightened over time In recent years, when Rachna Dhingra tried to protest at Jantar Mantar, she was told no-one could stay the night. She asked where hundreds of people who travelled to the capital would go. > Where do you go with hundreds of people who have travelled all the way to the capital to protest? ## Supreme Court hears challenge It is not clear what Jantar Mantar's future is.The Supreme Court is hearing pleas challenging its removal as a protest site.Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Cockroach Janta Party leaders say it will be reclaimed. ## Key takeaway Delhi Police has ended Jantar Mantar's status as a designated protest site after decades of activism, directing demonstrators to three alternatives that are farther from parliament and charge fees.