No More Protests Allowed at Jantar Mantar: A Look Back at How the Central Delhi Area Became the Designated Protest Site

THE JANTAR MANTAR area of New Delhi, where many protests have happened over the years, has been ‘de-notified’ and is no longer a designated site for protests, Delhi Police announced on Monday, October 12, 2026. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, formed a committee to examine which other locations in Delhi could be used for protests so that citizens’ right to assemble peacefully and dissent remains protected.

The committee has now given its recommendations, and hence, the Jantar Mantar area, will no longer be used as a protest site and the three new locations proposed include Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground, and CBD Ground. The notice was issued by Anurag Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

This update followed a series of protests organized by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical group that has announced itself as a pressure group, along with several left-affiliated student organizations and political parties. The protests began on Saturday and Sunday across central Delhi, with protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Thousands of protesters could be seen at Jantar Mantar and in the areas around it, with a heavy police deployment to detain them.

The Jantar Mantar venue has become a centre for massive protests and hunger strikes being conducted since June-July 2026. At that time, the CJP, along with other organizations, was demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over paper leaks and a lack of accountability. But how did Jantar Mantar become a protest site, and how many people have raised their voices against the government from that location? Here is brief history.

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How Was Jantar Mantar Established as a Protest Site?

Jantar Mantar was not always a site related to dissent. Rather, it was just a residential area until 1993, when the stretch between Ashok Road and Parliament Street was officially made Delhi’s main peaceful protest venue. Before Jantar Mantar, it was the Boat Club lawns in the heart of the capital. The Boat Club was near India Gate and Parliament and was a hub for massive public demonstrations, fasts, and rallies.

Historically, there were many areas for public protests, including the Parade Ground near Town Hall and Red Fort Ground, but in the early 1970s, the location for peaceful protests was shifted to the Boat Club lawns, where major political and agrarian protests took place. The moment that came as a shock to the Congress party was in 1988, when lakhs of farmers led by Mahendra Singh Tikait, farmer leader and president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, gathered at the Boat Club grounds in October 1988.

The farmers later left the site after a week when the government assured them of concessions under the Rajiv Gandhi-led government. After that, the Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid protests gripped the country, and during this time, the then government banned gatherings at the Boat Club. This is when Jantar Mantar’s journey as a protest site began in 1993. While it was an ideal venue, the area was not large enough to accommodate a large crowd.

However, the place was easier to manage, with two main entry and exit points. This is how the area connecting Tolstoy Road to Ashok Road became the only place in New Delhi where protests could take place. The site hosted many protests led by students, politicians, civil society groups, citizen campaigns, farmers, workers, and many more. The prominence of the area grew after the anti-corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare in 2011.

History of Protests at Jantar Mantar

2011 Anti-Corruption Movement

Because of corruption in government offices, social activist Anna Hazare launched a massive hunger strike and a nationwide protest called the anti-corruption movement. The protest took place in April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, and the core demand was for a strong Jan Lokpal Bill to create an independent body that would investigate corrupt public officials. He began his fast unto death in the Jantar Mantar area, and days later, the central government agreed to the demand, making Jantar Mantar a symbol of democratic dissent.

2017 Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protest

This was a major agrarian protest led by the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in 2017. It took place when Tamil Nadu faced its worst drought in 140 years, and hundreds of farmers had died by suicide because of heavy debt burdens. Their demands included water management, drought relief packages, loan waivers, and other support from the government. Although the central government did not agree to their exact demands, it provided some relief.

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2019 Anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) Protest

The protests started because the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, was passed by the Parliament of India. It provided an accelerated path to Indian citizenship for eligible undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The eligible communities included Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, leaving out Muslim communities. Students from Jawaharlal Nehru University and other universities started protesting against this through marches, gatherings, demonstrations, and other activities, with Jantar Mantar becoming a major protest site.

2023 Indian Wrestlers’ Protest

The protests took place from January to May 2023, when top Indian wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, staged a sit-in at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. They alleged that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had sexually harassed them. The protesters then marched towards Parliament, where many protesters were detained and the Jantar Mantar protest site was cleared by the police. The accused, Brij Bhushan, was later acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

Other Protests: From Nirbhaya to Anti-CEC

Other gatherings included the protests during the Nirbhaya case in 2012, when a paramedical student was gang-raped and murdered aboard a moving bus in Delhi. The Nido Tania protest took place in 2014 after Nido Tania, a 20-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh, was beaten by a shopkeeper in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar and later died. Recent protests include the early 2026 protests against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated paper leaks and the current protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

After all these massive protests, the site has now been de-notified by the authorities, citing safety concerns. They added that heavy traffic disruptions and security management were also challenges faced by the government. Another concern was complaints from residents of the area about noise pollution and sanitation. Earlier, in 2017, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appealed to the Supreme Court over the issue of noise pollution, but in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled against a ban on Jantar Mantar as a protest site.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

[OG/VP/HP]

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