Every day, Jantar Mantar comes to life with a cacophony of voices — voices of protesters. For dharnas, or any protests and demonstration, particularly against the Government, there’s only one place in the Capital: Jantar Mantar, located at Sansad Marg. This is the place to visit if you’re getting disillusioned with democracy and freedom of expression. The usual sight at Jantar Mantar comprises police, reporters and demonstrators looking for some action: Police for something that would require their attention; reporters for their exclusives, and protesters for justice.
The flimsy tents, absence of loved ones, lack of a steady income or a job and reliance on nearby gurdwaras for sustenance fail to either deter the determination of protesters or to make them leave an inch of ground. Hailing from different parts of the country these protesters await for the fulfillment of their demands. “I have been waiting for three years for my ideas to be heard along with my 90-year-old mother. I will not budge until the Government relents,” said Anil Kumar, a protestor.
United by protests and binded by the common thread of wanting to be heard, these people have made Jantar Mantar their primary home. Every time you lose a little bit of faith in the Indian democracy, a visit to Jantar Mantar reinforces all of it and some more.
A RAPE SURIVOR’s FIGHT
Jantar Mantar, the nation’s hotbed for protests attracts motley of citizens trying to get their voices heard. Amidst the mix is Manjeet Kaur (name changed), a 32-year-old woman, who has been awaiting justice since two years to get her voice heard.
Manjeet, originally from Patiala in Punjab, alleges rape against senior politicians and police officers of the Punjab Government. Shedding light on the brutality, she said, “I was lured as a maid for a senior politician who along with four of his close friends drugged and raped me for seven days straight. I managed to escape somehow.” Since then she has been fighting her battle. The Punjab Police refused to file an FIR sighting it a high-profile case, she said. Thereafter, the Patiala Court and Chandigarh High Court dismissed her case for absence of an FIR, she added. She then came to Delhi, where a case has been filed at ITO women’s cell division. However, nothing has progressed so far. “I feel the nation is not run by the Government rather the underbelly,” said Manjeet.
She also claimed, a few days back her husband was attacked by goons in the presence of pedestrians and suffered major injuries. He at present is admitted at Ram Manohar lohia Hospital. Fearing for her children’s safety, she sent them off to an orphanage in Delhi.
Her struggle continues and she fills her stomach by food from a nearby gurdwara. Despite great adversities, Manjeet hopes for a better and safe life for herself and her children, whom she hasn’t met for over a month. Her only demand is protection for her family and justice for herself.
FIGHTING FOR lOST SON
For people seeking justice, when all doors are closed, Jantar Mantar stands out as a ray of hope. located near Janpath, it has half a dozen of scheduled protests (dharnas with police permission) and many more unscheduled protests. Some of these are led in groups while others by individuals.
One such is the story of Shobha Devi, a 50-year-old woman, who hails from Ghaziabad. Shobha’s son was killed in 2013 by her business partner, whom she considered family, she said. Fearing for her life, she arrived at Jantar Mantar in October 2015. Since then, she has been moving from court to court and from one police station to another. She has also visited the Chief Minister’s office a number of times in order to seek justice for her son’s murder.
“like every mother, my son was the apple of my eye. I found him unconscious with foam coming out of his mouth. By the time I could get him to a hospital, he was dead,” said a teary-eyed Shobha Devi.
After her son’s death, she moved to her native house where she was thrashed and beaten. She also mentioned that she was forced to leave her house as it was vandalised by her neighbours. “I firmly believe that justice delayed is justice denied and hence want an immediate action against the perpetrators,” added Shobha.
Shobha Devi spends her days and nights at the same spot waiting for her voice to get heard and result in something fruitful one day. All she hopes is that someday she will be able to get justice for her son and get her ancestral property back so that she sells it off and lives a better life.
DEAD ON PAPER, TRYING TO REGAIN IDENTITY
For a 35-year-old Santosh Singh, life has been topsy-turvy since the day he decided to marry a Dalit woman. Not only his entire property was taken over by his relatives, he was also declared dead.
Santosh, who hails from Varanasi, has been sitting on a dharna at Jantar Mantar since 2012 and is yet to receive any kind of help from the authorities.
In 2000, he started working as a cook and driver at Bollywood actor Nana Patekar’s residence after the latter visited Varanasi and called him to work at his place.
Two years later, he fell in love with a Dalit woman from Maharashtra, and subsequently, got married despite his family disapproving the decision. When he returned to his own village near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, unfortunately he found that he had been shunned. But, the more shocking part came after a month when he learnt that his cousins and relatives had declared him dead.
“They performed my last rites and got a death certificate made. Based on that, they took over my 12.5 acres of ancestral land. It’s been a fruitless struggle ever since to prove to the authorities that I am still alive. All documents that could prove me right were destroyed too. So on paper, I don’t exist,” Singh said.
“I thought their anger would simmer down and eventually they will accept my decision but what they did was something I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams,” he added.
He has sought justice from courts, police, and even Parliament, but to no avail. He also claims UP CM Akhilesh Yadav intervened and got an FIR lodged at Hazrat Ganj Police Station. He hopes that someday, people in the Government and his village would wake up and give him back his entire property.
AND THE ISSUE OF OROP
Since the inception of the one-rank, one-pension debate, a group of ex-paramilitary servicemen have been silently protesting for over a year at the nation’s hotbed for protest: Jantar Mantar. Initially, agitating for the implementation of the OROP scheme, their fight now entails to get the scheme reformed.
The protesters have been on a hunger strike on and off for 373 days now. They comprise of a group of retired Army veterans ranging from havaldars to generals who have fought wars, defended the loC and have given their blood and sweat for protection of the nation.
OROP aims to bring parity in pension based on rank and duration of service irrespective of the date of retirement. While the Government has given in-principle approval, final implementation has been delayed due to disagreement within on the modalities.
According to Sudesh Goyal, spokesperson for the group, “The scheme is deceptive since it has distorted the meaning of one rank one pension itself. If an Army officer of today receives more pension than an Army officer of yesteryear, then there is no point of this scheme. Several times, our brother, General Satbir Singh has visited the offices of the Government with our demands and has even sat on a fast unto death along with 14 senior retired officers but in vain,” Goyal said.
The retired Army personnel have been demanding that scheme be implemented from April last year as opposed to the Government’s proposal of July 2014. Secondly, they have been demanding that the pension be revised every two years. Thirdly, they want a five-member committee as opposed to the one-man commission set up by the Government.
The group’s struggle has not been easy. “We have been disgracefully treated at the hands of police and municipal authorities. The widows of our brothers have not received any pension despite being promised in March and whatever they have is insufficient. Several festivals passed but for all of us there wasn’t any reason to celebrate,” said an emotional Manoj Singh, retired Havaldar.
Sudesh Goyal further added how the group when not on hunger strike, survives on food from the gurdwara. “For the past one year, our well-wishers from Bangla Sahib gurdwara have been providing us with langar,” she said.
At present, the one- man committee headed by Narsimha Reddy is mediating the demand of the veterans with the Government. However, the protesters feel that unless retired officers are consulted, no headway will take place. The group unanimously said, “It’s not our demand, but our right.”