Jantar Mantar - Question of Cities

How people reimagined the practice of public spaces in Delhi

Over decades, democratic protests have moved locations from the old city to the Boat Club and, more recently, to Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Ground. In every location, people agitating for their causes and articulating their demands from governments, turned non-protest…

Streets, not designated spaces, reverberate with protesters and their songs

Protests, a democratic right, need public spaces but maidans, city squares, prominent landmarks and monuments in India’s cities have been gradually cordoned off by governments that are unwilling to have such voices question the dominant narrative they set. Instead, governments…

Jantar Mantar apart, Delhi’s streets and borders are now temporal protest spaces

The Boat Club was once a favoured protest space in the national capital, so were the grand avenues of Janpath and Rajpath, and the majestic India Gate. Increasingly, for reasons of security or keeping protesters away from power, protests were…

Protest sites signal democratic strength of cities

India is not new to protests and demonstrations. Its many public spaces have been platforms to question the government of the day or employers, to raise voice against abuse and exploitation, to debate and demand change. They are hubs where…