‘Open Jantar Mantar, metro stations, stop detaining activists’: CPI MP writes to PM Modi

Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Union government to reopen Jantar Mantar for protests, stop detaining activists and ensure that citizens can exercise their constitutional right to peaceful assembly. In a letter dated October 9, Sandosh Kumar alleged that repeated attempts by protesters to reach Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in Delhi, had been met with barricades, detentions and police action. He said the protests stemmed from allegations of electoral malpractice, referred to by protesters as “vote-chori”, and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. “I am compelled to write this letter because every method of reaching out to your insensitive government has been met with barricades and lathis,” the CPI MP wrote. He further noted that Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees citizens the freedom to assemble peacefully and argued that elected representatives, students, youth and activists have the right to protest against what he described as the “complete collapse of India’s electoral democracy”. “Our demand is very simple: we want to peacefully protest against our collective grievances over the complete collapse of India’s electoral democracy and demand the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar,” he wrote. Sandosh Kumar alleged that the government had responded to protesters through detentions, arrests and house arrests instead of engaging with them. Claiming that more than 47,000 security personnel had been deployed in Central Delhi alone, he said even women MPs and activists had faced police action while attempting to reach the designated protest site. “This is a state of emergency,” he wrote. The MP also alleged that activists were being arrested and detained at locations more than 1,000 kilometres from Delhi, while trains heading to the national capital were being cancelled. He argued that the restrictions were causing inconvenience to ordinary citizens, including through traffic congestion and metro station closures. “I wish to make it categorically clear that turning Delhi into a military cantonment will not deter us. We will raise our voice. No amount of barricading, intimidation or repression can take away our fundamental right to protest,” he said. The letter also referred to allegations against the Chief Election Commissioner. Sandosh Kumar claimed that Election Commissioners had flagged alleged wrongdoing and that observations by the Supreme Court had supported the allegations against Gyanesh Kumar. The letter did not specify the observations he was referring to. Urging the Prime Minister to intervene, the MP said the government was responsible for the difficulties faced by ordinary people because it had failed to provide protesters access to designated protest spaces. “I strongly urge you to open Jantar Mantar immediately, open metro stations, stop detaining activists exercising their democratic rights and learn to listen,” he wrote. “Do not make us protest just to secure the right to a protest site,” he added, describing peaceful assembly as a constitutional guarantee rather than a privilege granted at the government's discretion. Sandosh Kumar, who is the CPI's leader in the Rajya Sabha, concluded by urging the Prime Minister and his government to uphold the Constitution and allow citizens to express their grievances peacefully.