NEW DELHI: “Vote chor, gaddi chhod.” It was around 4pm when we heard slogans ring out as we approached the barricades sealing off Janpath from Connaught Place. Hundreds of security personnel, including the Rapid Action Force, stood guard around the blockade. On the other side of CP’s Outer Circle, along the Radial Road towards Central Park, a gathering of protesters was growing.Their numbers were small, around 200 at most. But for 45 minutes or so, they owned the street. For a brief while, it was July once more. The 50-metre stretch had spontaneously morphed into a ‘Jantar Mantar’. Most protesters were Gen Z, though many were older.Several activists climbed onto the Metro station wall to shout slogans. Others took up the rhythmic ‘azaadi’ chant, while some sat on the road giving interviews to mediapersons. A few of them flashed printed placards; others had slogans hurriedly scribbled on paper bags. Many simply watched from the sidewalk, unsure how long the picket would be allowed to continue.“With the police having sealed off the entire central Delhi, guerrilla protests such as this are all we can do,” said a Gen Z woman, adding that she had travelled all the way from Kerala. “We walked through bylanes, avoiding police checks, to get to this spot.”There were no Cockroach Janta Party masks or posters on display. However, some youths carried placards bearing the names of student groups such as NSUI and SFI.Across the Outer Circle, security personnel kept watch but did not intervene. Twice, there was a sudden scramble away from the site amid fears that the cops were charging in. Both proved to be false alarms. Emboldened, a group of youngsters moved closer to the barricades. Chants of ‘Jab jab Modi darta hai, police ko aage karta hai’ rent the air.Around 4.45pm, just as a fresh unit of Delhi Police commandos arrived, the cops moved in. Many protesters scrambled away. The rest were dragged into police vans. Several people watching from the sidelines were picked up too.“The way police are detaining people is completely arbitrary. They are not following the letter of their own notice. They said you cannot consolidate in groups of five or more. Here they are detaining kids moving in pairs or threes,” said HC lawyer Shaurya Vikram, who was among several lawyers in black coats at the site.Vikram stopped a police van and asked the cops to release a detainee whom he said was physically challenged and had a cochlear implant. After a standoff, the person was let go.Several other protesters did not wait for lawyers to intervene. They opened the vans’ emergency exits and jumped off.
