Jantar Mantar is all the rage in Indian politics.
On Wednesday, the Union minister of state for tourism, K. Chiranjeevi, asserted, “It is people’s anguish we are representing here”. He was not speaking from Parliament, as one might have assumed, but from Jantar Mantar, where Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was holding his silent protest against the creation of Telangana.
Suddenly, Jantar Mantar has become the Oscar red carpet for Indian politicians, with every neta worth his Gandhi topi anxious to make an appearance there. Also spotted recently at the protest ground, agitating on various other issues, were Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and BJP president Rajnath Singh. Parliament is passe. An issue hasn’t arrived until it has made a debut at Jantar Mantar.
From abandoned observatory to protest park to political hotspot, Jantar Mantar has come a long way. Its transformation was catalysed in 1988, when Mahendra Singh Tikait set up camp on the Boat Club lawns, accompanied by thousands of UP farmers and their cattle. Forced to acknowledge the need for an official protest space, the government designated Jantar Mantar as one in 1993. For years, it has been home to earnest students and slightly despondent picketers, people on the political margins who doubted their voices would be heard.
With the Anna Hazare mobilisation in 2011, that changed. Supporters of Team Anna gathered at Jantar Mantar to demand the Jan Lokpal Bill, even as Parliament deliberated on the issue. Some vital political energy seemed to have been transferred to the protest ground.
Over the last few years, protest chic has become all the rage in politics. Now even Parliament seems to model itself on Jantar Mantar, with an agitationist opposition holding up the House for days. Those in government are naturally anxious not to have their thunder stolen. So there is only one thing left for them to do — move the party to Jantar Mantar.
