- 8 hours ago
Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces deployed personnel and barricaded Connaught Place to stop unauthorized gatherings ahead of a planned Tiranga rally at Central Park. While arterial roads and Delhi Metro stations remained operational, Central Park was closed for two days, and over 150 demonstrators attempting to reach the inner circle with the national flag were detained. Left-affiliated protesters, including Dipankar Bhattacharya and Neha Bora, were taken into custody near Mandi House. In addition, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke was placed under preventive detention under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita outside NCP-SP spokesperson Anish Gawande's residence. Security forces also dispersed student gatherings at Jantar Mantar. The police action generated political debate, with opposition voices defending the constitutional right to protest, while government representatives cited lack of clearance, previous blockades, and the denotification of Jantar Mantar as designated protest grounds.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:01Good evening, as you are watching To The Point, we come to you live from right in front of the
00:06inner circle,
00:06Cunard Place practically turned into a fortress.
00:09Huge difference. Let me begin with what is different this time than what was the 10th of October.
00:15This time around, all arterial roads leading to Central Delhi open.
00:18There is a steady flow of traffic, all metro stations open.
00:23What is the same?
00:25Well, there is a, you know, what we've seen at least in the course of the last couple of hours.
00:31Every 15-20 minutes, there is a steady stream of protesters that are now coming in with the tricolor and
00:38are then being detained.
00:40But the kind of force that we have seen on the 10th of October, fortunately, completely missing right now.
00:47The administration, the paramilitary forces are, you know, in terms of numbers, massive on ground.
00:55But in terms of force, very little.
00:57We've only seen two flashpoints.
01:00One, when Neha Boda was attempting to come in to the inner circle when she was detained.
01:06She and Dipankar Bhattacharya were leading the protest from the SFI towards the inner circle from Mandi House and they
01:13were detained.
01:14The second, a short while ago, where once again a clutch of SFI students had come into protest and then
01:21were detained subsequently.
01:23I'm going to just give you a sense.
01:25Pawan will show you on what it looks like right now outside, right in front of the inner circle of
01:32Knaut Place, which is completely fortified.
01:34While the police and paramilitary forces are constantly urging people to move.
01:40But at least what we've seen in the last, you know, an hour is a steady stream.
01:46One group coming in, some of them getting detained and then there's a lull.
01:51And then we see another group coming in.
01:54But people are still gathering out here at the inner circle of Knaut Place.
02:01In the midst of it, I'm going to take you through now on how the day panned out, viewers.
02:06Through the course of the day, Abhiji Dipke was taken into preventive custody.
02:12Neha Boda was detained.
02:13She's at the Barakamba police station while things reaching to her head.
02:18Now, there is a preparation here by SFI students, all of them holding the tricolor.
02:25And there is going to be an attempt to once again try and enter inner circle of Knaut Place.
02:31Pawan will also show you a build-up here as well by SFI students as well as others who have
02:38come in to unfold the tricolor.
02:45Will they be detained? We'll only know in a short while.
02:49Pawan and I will continue to get you the latest.
02:51But I just want to take you through and give you a sense of how the day unfolded at Knaut
02:57Place and at Mandi House
02:59where the left took out its process wanting to converge into Knaut Place inner circle.
03:13C.J.P. founder Abhiji Dipke could never reach Delhi's Central Park for his Tirangar rally.
03:20He was detained by Delhi police as soon as he stepped out of NCP-SP spokesperson Anish Gawande's residence where
03:28he was staying.
03:31C.J.P. Dipke's detention came hours after Delhi police denied him permission to protest.
03:45A police team visited Dipke at Gawande's residence directing him not to proceed with the proposed rally at Central Park.
03:52Instead, they gave an alternative. Eleven people can carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a suitable
04:00place.
04:03During the interaction, Dipke told police that he only intends to unfurl the tricolor, not protest.
04:10He also questioned whether unfurling the flag is considered unlawful.
04:35C.J.P. Dipke read and signed the notice served to him holding the national flag in his hand.
04:42C.J.P. He maintained that the proposed gathering would be peaceful and they would abide by the constitution.
04:48C.J.P. This is what Narendra movie has turned our country into.
05:13C.J.P. But the administration had already taken several precautionary measures ahead of the Tiranga rally.
05:26C.J.P. Central Park has been shut for two days, citing administrative reasons.
05:31Security was tightened across Karnat Place and adjoining areas, with a substantial deployment of Delhi police and Central Armed Police
05:40Forces.
05:40C.J.P. Reports put the deployment at more than 6,000 Delhi police personnel and 220 companies of Central
05:47Armed Police Forces in the New Delhi area.
05:50C.J.P. Authorities also issued a public advisory, urging people not to join an unauthorized assembly.
05:59C.J.P. While police claim that Dipke's detention was to maintain public order, the police action has once again
06:05triggered the debate over the right to protest.
06:08C.J.P. Bureau Report, India Today.
06:11C.J.P. Let's cut across right now to my colleague Shivani Sharma, who's joining us from Jantar Mantar, as
06:23well as Aishwarya, who's joining me from Karnat Place.
06:26Shivani, get us up to speed on what's going on in Jantar Mantar.
06:31Certain protesters have tried to make a bid for Jantar Mantar as well.
06:34And then we'll cut across to Aishwarya.
06:36Over to you, Shivani.
06:43Priti, I'm right now at Jantar Mantar entry from the Tolstoy Marg area, but now you see the protesters who
06:50had gathered here have dispersed.
06:53There was heavy deployment of police and CAPFs and after the deployments reached here, all these protesters in a while
06:59they moved from this location.
07:01There were buses to detain them, but they themselves left this place.
07:05You see these barricades are at place at Jantar Mantar, all entry points.
07:10And you see the deployments, the reinforcements that have been reaching wherever these student wings and these protesters have been
07:18reaching.
07:18So at Jantar Mantar, we saw around 100 of these student-to-wing protesters from all the associations, from all
07:28the organizations, be it ISA, the CPI-supported student organizations.
07:34They were all here a while back, they have moved, they have dispersed, the deployments remain at place and the
07:41police has been patrolling in all these points and especially Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified.
07:47But we see the security, the announcements, the posters and the presence of the security personnel still remains here.
07:55But very important out here to show, I want to show you that this road kept moving even when those
08:01protesters were here.
08:02So this time what we are seeing, Preeti, that the metro station is open, the road is open, the CPI
08:09shops here in this area are functional, though there are less people, the crowd is less, the football is definitely
08:16less.
08:16But yes, it's not completely closed. And the police and the CAPFs, they are deployed in this whole area.
08:24There have been attempts of all these students and these protesters to come here, reach Jantar Mantar, but you see
08:31the barricades are at place.
08:33There's multiple layers of barricading that has been done here at Jantar Mantar.
08:46Coming in from our camera, another face-off now you can see, you have the paramilitary forces along with the
08:55Delhi police who had gone there asking the crowds here to disperse.
08:59We could possibly see another round of detention now taking place between the protesters who come in with the tricolor
09:06and now the special forces coming in for a possible detention.
09:12I'm going to cut across to my colleague Aishwarya, who is very close to where a possible flashpoint once again
09:20being created, Aishwarya, where the protesters who have been warned to move back are pushing forth and extra paramilitary forces
09:31and contingents of the Delhi police being brought in.
09:37Well, definitely, you know, Preeti, you and I are very close, but yes, you are right.
09:41I can also see, you know, more police force being brought in from behind me.
09:45The number of policemen at the spot, they are now increasing and it seems like the protesters and the police,
09:51you know, let me actually show you the drone because this is extremely crucial.
09:55This is the drone which is being flown by the administration because there are high chances that, you know, the
10:01other side could actually capture the way in which they have been detained.
10:05The police now, you know, the kind of videos that we have seen over the past few days.
10:10Both the sides, in fact, come out with cameras.
10:12They make sure that they also have some video that through which, you know, they can tell their side of
10:18the story.
10:19The police, in fact, has now started slowly, slowly moving towards the protesters, asking people to, A, make space for
10:25the crowd, to make space for the cars that are coming in inside cannot place.
10:30And also the whistles, that is something that you can see now.
10:33The whistle, a sure, short sign, Preeti, that the police will now move in, will start asking the protesters to
10:40move in huge numbers.
10:42The policemen now have started moving towards the place, Preeti, where the protesters at the moment are.
10:49Well, the movement, Aishwarya, right behind me, the movement taking place right behind me because for a very long time,
10:56the police personnel there and the paramilitary forces kept trying to tell the, and it's happening in clutches.
11:03You'll see one group of protesters with the tricolor, about 50 to 60 odd, which will join 50 who are
11:08sitting here with the tricolor.
11:10Then they are told to move away. If not, if they resist, then there is a detention.
11:14So this is how things have panned out at the inner circle, while traffic continues, a little dystopian, but I
11:20would think a healthy sign, much better than what we saw on the 10th of October.
11:25Metro stations open, all arterial roads leading to Central Delhi open.
11:30But there have been political detentions, well, you could call it political, in terms of Dipankar Bhattacharya, who led the
11:37protest of the left.
11:38The SFI protest was led by no one else but Neha Bora, who was detained at Mandi House, and Abhijit
11:46Ditke, who was detained much earlier at about 4.45 p.m.
11:50when he tried to come towards India Gate.
11:53Let's cut across to our guests while we continue to get to the latest coming in from Inner Circle CP.
11:59Joining me right now is Bhavya Narsimha Murthy, spokesperson, Congress.
12:03We also have Charu Pragya, national spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party, Sanjay Jha, political analyst, Ranjot Satri, political analyst, advocate, Pranav
12:12Dhawan, spokesperson, CJP.
12:14We will also shortly be joined by Mr. Yashavardhan Azad, former IPS Special Director, Intelligence Bureau.
12:20We are going to cut across to all of you.
12:22Thank you for taking the time out and joining us this evening.
12:24I'd like to begin with the spokesperson, CJP.
12:28What next is the question?
12:30And Pranav Dhawan, it was your leader who was to lead the march to, or rather no march.
12:37He wanted to walk alone and come in because he didn't want to violate BNS 163.
12:44He has been now taken into preventive custody.
12:47All went down tamely.
12:49What's the next course of action from the CJP side?
12:52Because this was your call today.
12:54Hi, Preeti.
12:55It's good to speak to you.
12:56I will say that my leader was following Tagore's idea of Eklah Chalore today.
13:01And he was trying to be within the four corners of the law, yet assert his ambitkarite right to express.
13:09He's also a Gandhian, so he will adapt his values, adapt his strategies, and lead us to a more vibrant
13:16future for this movement.
13:17We will not be bogged down by any tactics of a tinpot dictator who has insecurity, who has a very
13:25fragile ego.
13:26We condemn the mass scale of detentions and utterly illegal actions.
13:34I have read the notices served on Abhijit, and they have no foundation in law.
13:38And they will be challenged, and they will also be struck down by courts at the appropriate time.
13:45But the fight will remain beyond the fight in courtrooms.
13:48And as like Gandhiji, we will captivate the hearts and minds of not just the 26 million followers that we
13:55have on Instagram,
13:57but each and every Indian, and win the battle.
14:00Pranav, before I go to the other guests, I want to ask you a question.
14:03Last time around, when Abhijit Dipke was detained, he had made very clear that the CJP now would be led
14:10into that protest by Ajinkie and Shinde.
14:14Okay, who now leads the CJP? In effect, your top three leaders are in preventive custody.
14:21Who is now going to take the next call?
14:24It is indeed a very emergent situation for our movement.
14:28Even Ajinkia has had to file a bail bond.
14:31But we are a very resilient group.
14:33We have built a strategy, and you shall know the details very soon.
14:42All right, okay, I want to bring in Charu Pragya into this conversation.
14:45Charu Pragya, what is finally heartening to note is metro stations were open, arterial roads are leading to cannot place
14:53were open.
14:54There seems to be a clear shift in strategy, and good to see that, of what went down on the
14:5910th of October, very different today.
15:01Force was used in parts, but only to detain political leadership.
15:05There have been detention, some forceful here, but comparatively to 10th and 11th of October, far less.
15:12Yet, why preventive custody when the likes of Abhijit Dipke, you know, you can say Neha Bora came in with
15:19a crowd,
15:20but likes of Abhijit Dipke was walking in alone.
15:23He was not in violation of BNS 163, yet he was taken into preventive custody.
15:30See, Preeti, one thing that is happening, and I want to begin with that, is this wrongful spread of misinformation.
15:40Everybody claiming that detentions happened because people were carrying the tricolor.
15:46That is absolutely not the case, and I want to start with that.
15:50The detentions happened because people entered a denotified protest site.
15:56They obstructed police from carrying out their duty.
15:59They broke through barricades, and it was willful defiance after giving an undertaking.
16:04So all of that is actually a position where if you're defying prohibitory orders, you are going to be detained.
16:11And, you know, just trying to tell people that you were detained only because you held the tiranga in your
16:16hand,
16:17I think that is trying to mislead the very intelligent public of our country.
16:21That's the first thing.
16:22How was Abhijit Dipke defying prohibitory orders?
16:41Can you hear me, Charu Pragya?
16:44The question is, how was Abhijit Dipke defying prohibitory orders, Charu Pragya?
16:54All right, we seem to have lost Charu.
16:56We're going to try and connect back to her.
16:58Bhavia, to bring you in on this, there was seemingly a lot of bonhommie on the march,
17:03which was announced to the Supreme Court by your party, the Congress, and your leader, Rahul Gandhi.
17:09He had with him on the truck no one else but Neha Bora.
17:13And you had massive support in terms of the Carter base coming in from the left.
17:18Today, it seems the Congress didn't return the favor.
17:21There was hardly any presence of NSUY.
17:24There was no leadership of the Congress that joined in this protest.
17:32The protests we organized, we had given invitation to everyone, every Indian.
17:37It was not just the Congress party which was present.
17:40There were people from different political parties as well as common men present in that protest, if you see.
17:48Before this, our NSUY, the Youth Congress, all of them have attended most of the youth movements that were organized.
17:56Even today, there were people, and it's just because we did not have Congress flag there,
18:02that doesn't mean our party people were not there.
18:07This was not organized by the Congress party as it is.
18:11So, of course, we would not be able to, you know, when it is a Tiranga flag, we can't bring
18:16Congress flag in show, right?
18:18It's obvious.
18:19And why would you say there is no presence?
18:21And Rahul, Mr. Gandhi, you said he only had Neha Bora.
18:26But, Tabia, the SFI bought their flags, the CPI bought their flags, the Aamadmi Party bought their flags, the Congress
18:31was missing.
18:31Rahul Gandhi had only Neha Bora.
18:34No, he had extended the invitation to everyone, to every political party, which aligned with the, and believed that there
18:45is vote chori.
18:46And it is as simple as that.
18:48We had organized a protest.
18:50People did join.
18:52In the past also, a lot of, Pragya, don't interrupt me.
18:57In the past also, in a lot of protests, whether it is CJP movement or from AISA, our people have
19:03attended.
19:05Many times, if you see our Sevadal, after a huge CJP protest, after the whole protest, our Sevadal was there
19:13to clear the road, to clean up all the mess, you know, after the protest.
19:17So, please do not say that.
19:18Okay, but today, Bhavya, you might seem to suggest today, we did, no, I'll say what I've seen, and, Bhavya,
19:27I'll say, one second, one second, can we just all hold our own, one second.
19:31Bhavya, you know, the fact is, I'm on ground, our reporter's on ground, I'm giving you clear anecdotal evidence.
19:38Today, the NSUI was a miss, the Congress leaders were a miss, right?
19:42And nothing can change that.
19:43I want to cut across back to Charu Pragya, because Charu Pragya, you said very clearly, those who were in
19:49violation of prohibitory orders was detained.
19:52How was Abhiji Dipke in violation of prohibitory orders?
19:56He was detained preemptively, Preeti, and he was detained preemptively even before the first protest started, and I think that
20:05was a sensible decision at the discretion of the Delhi police.
20:09Another thing that I want to point out here is, and because Bhavya was talking about how smart Congress is
20:14being about all of this, you know what Congress has actually done, is on one side, they have Prashant Bhushan,
20:19who's become the chief patron of anarchy in our country.
20:22On the other side, he's got Neha Bora, who's an extreme leftist, she's become the poster girl of unrest, in
20:29fact, trying to channelize, you know, her inner motivation coming from a dhaka-like protest, and that becomes a problem.
20:36Standing by Rahul Gandhi are not tall Congress leaders.
20:40Standing by Rahul Gandhi are people who are actually calling for a violent regime change.
20:46And there is a very clear distinction, especially for people who walk around carrying a copy of the Constitution in
20:53their hand, you are trying and advocating an unconstitutional method of regime change, you don't want to contest an election.
20:59I want to bring in our other guests, the answer, the answer to what the government feels is a Bangladesh
21:07-like regime change being engineered by the opposition and other forces, the reaction to that is to use emergency-like
21:15protocol, be it on the bonds that have been, be it with the bonds that have been signed,
21:21or be it the bonds that the CJP leaders have been made to sign, and even to make the pre
21:28-emptive custody that has taken place.
21:31So it seems, that's the response there.
21:33I just, I'll come back to you ma'am, allow me to open up, allow me to open up the
21:37debate.
21:37I just, madam, allow me to, allow me to open up the debate, I'll come right back to you.
21:42I want to bring in Sanjay Jha and Ranjit Sethi, who've been patiently waiting, I just would like to bring
21:45them in.
21:46Sanjay Jha, you know, there's something the Congress needs to also re-look at, because all the grandstanding of we
21:54are one movement, we are one protest,
21:56which was made by the Congress, by Rahul Gandhi himself, on ground, you're not one movement.
22:02You are very clearly your own movement, you want others to align with you, but when it comes to other
22:07movements, you do not want to bolster their forces with your numbers.
22:14Preeti, I don't agree with that at all.
22:17Rahul Gandhi has been categorical, and he's been the lynchpin of the movement as far as the opposition political parties
22:24are concerned.
22:25And he's publicly stated that while there are many formations, the Kokoro Janata Party is one, which, to be honest,
22:33pioneered the entire protest movement against this government.
22:35You have Neha Boda, who's doing a wonderful job, and there are many other members of civil society, known, unknown,
22:42who are battling it out, because this concerns the future of Indian democracy.
22:46Now, here is the truth.
22:48The truth is that ever since the Kokoro Janata Party was formed, and they have this spokesperson here, I'm not
22:54a counsel for the CGP, this government has called them by the most nasty names.
22:59It's maligned them, it's been disparaging about them, it's called them tukre-tukre gang, it's referred to them as anarchists,
23:09anti-nationals, apostates.
23:11They have used the most, shall we say, very demeaning language against the Gen Z and the student movement.
23:18And today you are seeing the manifestations of a government that is so insecure, paranoid and frightened, because this movement
23:26is now ballooned and is become, by every day, is rising into a real crescendo.
23:33This is not anymore about just the students anymore.
23:36This is a protest across the length and file of Indians across India, whichever political ideology they have.
23:44They want a vibrant, strong democracy that respects constitutional standards, not the way the BJP is running.
23:52The BJP is not just authoritarian, they are fascist.
23:56They are here to obliterate a voice that is rising in dissent.
24:00Can you imagine young people like Abhijit Dipke, like Neha Bora being arrested every other day or detained every other
24:08day?
24:08Why are you harassing the youth who one day you kind of give a lip service, they are the future
24:14of India, and the next day they are all in jail?
24:17For what?
24:17For the most flimsy pretext, for the most frivolous reasons.
24:27Allow me to bring in Rajat into this conversation.
24:30Rajat, there seems to be a shift in strategy, at least in terms of policing and law and order.
24:36What happened on the 10th and 11th was very different than what played out today, where Cannot Place is concerned.
24:42In terms of arterial roads open, metro stations open, the heavy clapdown mostly only came where those who were leading
24:51the protest were concerned.
24:52While mostly the others have been allowed to come, of course not enter the inner circle, because inner circle is
24:59completely fortified, but at least make their way till the inner circle.
25:05Yes, I think, Pritiji, there has been a calibrated approach of gradually easing out the tensions that were there in
25:12the street.
25:13And I believe some cooperation is required from all the sides.
25:17The way before the magistrate, it was Mr. Dipke who himself had signed the bond.
25:21It was not under any duress.
25:23But if you start saying that every institution has been corrupted, has been co-opted, then it is another matter.
25:30But he was the one who had signed the orders around the notification of the Jantar Mantarwar are very clear
25:37to everyone.
25:38And if you still want to carry on protests, my simple point is, why not go to the designated areas,
25:44make the applications again.
25:45You still want to carry on to flout the rules.
25:48There has to be a point where the administration and the police force is going to take the necessary next
25:54steps.
25:54The logical next steps is to detain.
25:56You know, my problem is, you know, when they were entering into the airport at least three, four days back,
26:02they said, we have to arrest.
26:04We have to arrest the Delhi police, we have to arrest the Delhi police.
26:07Because the moment they get arrested, that's how they become heroes.
26:11You know, on one side they say that.
26:13You know, and when the police actually retains you, then you start saying that the entire democracy has been replaced
26:19by dictatorship and by a fascist government.
26:21So you cannot have both ways.
26:23And on top of it, if Prasan Dhusan, who has been marching alongside all of these people, if he says
26:30that the clear intent is regime change,
26:34I think he has made a cardinal sin of tainting the entire movement of the cockroaches.
26:40Now the government, if you are trying to illegally do a regime change, government will crack down in the harshest
26:48possible ways and they are legitimate in doing that.
26:51Because Prasan Dhusan, he's turned out, he said he wants a regime change.
26:57This is highly unfortunate and this is what reeks of how a communist is actually, his entire training is.
27:04This is what shows how much of faith he has and lo and behold, he's the one who goes out
27:09and defends the constitution as a lawyer at the Supreme Court.
27:13Okay, I'm going to, Rajat, okay, allow, allow, allow me to bring in, allow me to bring in the others
27:21as well.
27:22You know, Rajat, you talk about the designated areas of protest.
27:25If it is central Delhi, because if there are people who want to protest, Ramadila Maidan is central Delhi, there
27:30are no dates.
27:31So while you've designated a spot, you still haven't made it available to protestors.
27:35So how in the world are they going to take their voice if they want to be in central Delhi?
27:39They want to be seen, they want to be heard, they want to be seen occupying public space.
27:43Anyway, I'm going to, I'll just, you know, cut across and I'll swing back to you.
27:46I just want to tell our viewers the latest update that's coming in and then you'll understand the marked difference
27:50of 10th October and today.
27:52Till now, only 150 detentions have taken place, while if you remember, on the 10th of October, the detentions have
27:58crossed 7,000.
27:59So 150 detentions that have taken place, mostly people have been allowed to come in.
28:05Some of them continue to squat right outside the inner circle, while some of them who try in groups to
28:13move towards the inner circle, those are the groups that are being detained.
28:17So there is decorum that seemingly is being maintained, while you've had the paramilitary forces and the Delhi police very
28:24clear that nobody enters the inner circle.
28:27And the original call, once again, I'll take you back to it, was for people to gather in the inner
28:33circle at 5 p.m. of Cunot Place and unfurl the Tiranga, the tricolour.
28:39What you see anecdotally, yes, you continue to see a lot of people who come from all walks of life
28:45of their own volition, but the numbers are not as much as possibly they were on the 10th and the
28:5211th.
28:52And the sheer fact, some would say, you know, was good strategy on the part of the administration to leave,
28:59you know, the crowds, any crowds to come into the inner circle.
29:02So you really don't know what the crowd really is that is coming to protest or those who have just
29:06come in.
29:07Because Cunot Place attracts a fair amount of crowds from the national capital.
29:12I want to bring back the CJP spokesperson and we'll go back to all our panelists one by one.
29:18And the question I will ask you again, what's the next course of action?
29:21Your entire leadership, Pranav, now is in, you know, preventive custody.
29:27Yes.
29:28What now?
29:29Before I answer your question.
29:33Some of them are still waiting, waiting, hoping to know what next.
29:39Yes, we are in touch with each and every volunteer of ours.
29:42But before I answer your specific question, let me answer some very pertinent points which have been made by Rajat
29:47and Charuji.
29:49The government of this day has to run as per the Constitution of India, not by its own whims and
29:54fancies.
29:55Their definition of what is law and what is order, what is the procedure, will not be the one that
30:00the Supreme Court of India or the people of this country shall follow.
30:03They cannot one day wake up and denotify Jantar Mantra, which has been a designated protest site for a long
30:08period of time.
30:09The Supreme Court of India in 2018 in the MKSS judgment has made it very clear that the people's voice
30:14has to be heard.
30:15People cannot be out of sight, out of mind for the government of the day.
30:19Therefore, when we talk about rule of law, we have to talk about what the judiciary decides is the rule
30:24of law and what the people of this country have signed up for.
30:27People of this country have signed up to live in a constitutional democracy and not to live in the lala
30:32land of a tinpot dictator.
30:35To answer your specific question about the movement, this is a movement which is run by the principles of Mahatma
30:40Gandhi.
30:42Today was, in a way, a setback.
30:44Today was a setback.
30:45It is a setback that our top leadership is in jail.
30:47But this is a very resilient movement.
30:49We have second, third, fourth, fifth layers of leadership.
30:52Our leadership is not just sitting in Delhi and Bangalore and in fancy studios.
30:56Our leadership is living in small towns of Sumastipur, Nursingpur and Trichy.
31:02These are the people who are the non-topper classes of this country, who have not had a fair chance,
31:07who are frustrated with their life.
31:08And they have shown that when cockroaches come out, they roar and they will and they shall win.
31:17All right.
31:18I want to bring in Charu Pragya back.
31:22You know, Ms. Pragya, there is a lot of conversation around the comments that were made at the press conference
31:28by Prashant Bhushan, who was seen with Rahul Gandhi, where the issue of regime change was bought in.
31:35Now, the Congress argues that there is no regime per se in India because we are not, you know, that
31:45we don't have an authoritarian figure.
31:46It is a democracy.
31:47But having said that, if you once go back and look at even what Pranap Mukherjee says, that the job
31:54of the opposition, and today the Congress is only echoing that, is to expose and dispose of the government.
32:00The job of the opposition is to topple a government.
32:03And the Congress says they are doing exactly that by what they call is exposing the lapses on your government's
32:10path.
32:12Priti, you're right.
32:13It is the job of the opposition to peacefully protest when they want to.
32:18But the operative word here is peaceful.
32:20I do agree with the CJP spokesperson, Pranap.
32:23He's right.
32:24Everything has to be done constitutionally.
32:26But that also means that you have to pay attention to the observations of the Supreme Court.
32:30So, when Justice Joy Malia Bakshi says that if there is no permission for protest, it will be called an
32:37unlawful protest, you have to pay attention to that.
32:40At the same time, when the CJI also issues notice to Rahul Gandhi, to Akhilesh Yadav and several others, and
32:47it, you know, pulls them up for their conduct and asks for an explanation, you have to pay attention to
32:52even that.
32:53You also have to pay attention to the fact that there are leaders who are signing an undertaking and then
32:58willfully defying what they have signed.
33:02That also has to be looked upon.
33:04And when leaders are using words like bloodshed, when you're actually encouraging a Bangladesh-like protest in your speeches, then
33:11the government has to sit up and take notice.
33:13And everyone who talks about the constitution has to remember in all of this, in all the debates, the operative
33:19word remains peaceful.
33:21If 200 plus police people are going to land up in hospital, that is no longer a peaceful protest.
33:27Why were people in Cannot Place in the first place?
33:30It got denotified now.
33:31Jantar Mantar got denotified now.
33:33But before that, there was stone pelting on cops in Cannot Place before the denotification happened.
33:39So, the protesters were the ones who started taking over different parts of Delhi, who marched upon the Supreme Court,
33:46who blockaded the gates entering the Supreme Court.
33:48We do understand the tenet, but Charu Pragya, one second, one second.
33:55Charu Pragya, the tenet of democracy is very clear that the government doesn't need to give you permission to protest.
34:03The authorities need to make sure that a protest is peaceful.
34:08There is, it's very clear in our democracy.
34:10We don't need permission to protest.
34:12I just want to bring in Bhavya into this conversation.
34:16And Bhavya, from here, you know, in Delhi, you're asking for the right to protest.
34:21And in Bangalore, you're not giving CCP the right to protest.
34:25I don't know what Pranav has to say about the Bangalore situation.
34:29Over a hundred young protesters were detained in Bangalore.
34:32I have a question to Bhavya Narsimha Murthy.
34:35Bhavya, one second, can I just get the faders down?
34:38I should have had the timer, I'm sure.
34:40Can I get the faders down?
34:41Can I just bring in Bhavya?
34:42Bhavya, the same question that I wanted to pose to you.
34:46It's a little dystopian, no?
34:48Here you're championing the cause of democracy and the right to protest in Bangalore, a state that you come from.
34:56You clamped down on the same right.
34:57How does that work?
35:00Preeti, you know what happened in Bangalore?
35:02The police were given clear instructions to make sure.
35:05There are two ways of deploying police.
35:07One, to make sure the protest happens in a peaceful manner, just like how you said.
35:12It's the duty of the authority, the government, the current government.
35:15Yes, I agree with you.
35:16The second one, what BJP is doing too, you know, that the police themselves inflict violence.
35:22In Bangalore, whatever happened, the chief minister has asked to report against it.
35:28He himself has come out and said, we had clear instructions that the protests should happen in a peaceful manner.
35:35And the police should make sure they do not create any hurdles for the protesters.
35:41And now the chief minister has asked for an investigation into what happened,
35:45why the protesters were not allowed into investigation against all those police officers and the police constables,
35:51who ever has done that.
35:53This is what our government is.
35:55But in turn, where Pragya Thakur was, Pragya, Charu Pragya was talking about.
36:02There are two ways of deploying police.
36:04You said there was violence before, during the protest.
36:07You know who inflicted those violence?
36:10When you people, when the Delhi police used pellet guns against the students,
36:14and you know who stood by them?
36:16The day the violence was inflicted on them, that was the day Mr. Gandhi sat in front of Prime Minister's
36:23house,
36:23and it forced the Prime Minister to do that selfie video.
36:27Else you people would have crushed that activism, the students' movement, if not for Mr. Gandhi.
36:33That day, if not for that, Mr. Gandhi would not even comment on it.
36:38That's what everyone says, it's classic Congress, to bolt the stables after the horses have fled.
36:46What happened in Bangalore, Karnataka, of the kind of high-pitched, you know,
36:53the protest that has been coming from your own political party,
36:57to then, of what happened in Bangalore,
37:00it's rather bizarre that now an investigation is ordered against the police personnel,
37:04who tried to clamp down on protests.
37:06Having said that, I want to bring in Yashavarda Nazad for a quick word,
37:10and Sanjay, I'll come to you after that, and I believe Rajat Sethi as well.
37:13Yashavarda Nazad, a marked difference on what happened on the 10th of October,
37:18to what happened today, on how the Delhi police and the paramilitary forces dealt with protesters,
37:24and dealt with basics, where no roads were blocked,
37:28metro stations were open, traffic is open.
37:32Yeah, but this is a different kind of a protest.
37:35In fact, if you look at the three protests,
37:37there was a massive confrontation on 20th of July,
37:41then on the 10th of October, there were again skirmishes.
37:44In the third protest of the combined opposition,
37:47in which the crowd was really huge, nothing happened,
37:49because restraint was shown from both sides.
37:52In this particular case, again, there was a knee-jerk reaction,
37:56because, you know, the Central Park has an amphitheater of 350 people,
38:01and also on festive occasions, 50,000 people can easily gather.
38:05If only the police commissioner would have told the CJP,
38:08yes, you're allowed to do this Tiranga flying,
38:13but use the underpass to reach that place.
38:16No vandalization of property, no trash here and there,
38:21no provocation against the police,
38:23and then strictly monitored, the ball would have been in that court,
38:26and they would have been free to take action against the provocateurs.
38:30So, in this case, the outer road anyway is closed,
38:33and the traders are also protesting.
38:36So, what I am saying is, this could have set a template.
38:38What we need to do is to make protest management efficiently,
38:43and allow the right to protest.
38:46That is exactly what would have been done in this particular case also.
38:55All right, let me bring in final comments coming in.
38:59Sanjay Jha, final comments, we'll bring in Ranjit Sethi as well.
39:03Sanjay, first you.
39:04You know, Preeti, I just want to make one observation.
39:08I've seen that the entire right-wing ecosystem is on turbo charge
39:13ever since Prashant Bhushan talked about regime change.
39:16And they're accusing as if there are some violent manifestations
39:20that are being broadcasted by the CGP or Prashant Bhushan,
39:25Neha, Boda, etc., which is complete balderdash.
39:29This is a misinformation and disinformation campaign.
39:32Regime change happens through the ballot box, through the EBM.
39:34I mean, it is an electoral result on which the people vote.
39:39I mean, the biggest regime change was done by Mahatma Gandhi
39:42when he brought the British Empire to an end.
39:44So to assume that, you know, you can just make scandalous remarks
39:48where you're trying to slander the protesters is extremely unfortunate.
39:54It tells you the political intent of this government
39:56to call anybody who makes any statement
39:59to kind of come to their own conclusions
40:02and then conflate it with some kind of an anti-national seditious act.
40:06This is the intent of this government that worries me, Preeti.
40:09Because the truth is that regime change happens every five years
40:13when there is an electoral democratic contestation
40:16that results in one winning and somebody not winning.
40:19It's as simple as that.
40:20It's not complicated at all.
40:28Rajat, final comments, Rajat.
40:30If he's with us, let's bring him in.
40:33So, Preeti ji, I still don't understand.
40:36I mean, this statement was made by Mr. Prashant Bhushan.
40:40What does the government have to say?
40:43A mirror has been shown to him finally,
40:46wherein this is what the government has been saying all along,
40:51that the intent is not election commission.
40:53The intent is regime change.
40:55And if you are asking for a regime change,
40:57the way every spokesperson of CJP has also been saying
41:00that we will take the resignation of Prime Minister Modi.
41:03And clearly they want to use street protest
41:06in an illegal and unconstitutional manner
41:09to enforce a regime change.
41:12I think by mistake and because of emotional burden,
41:17Mr. Prashant Bhushan just let out his intent.
41:20And he was pretty aggressive about it
41:23as if he genuinely meant
41:25and he is ready to go to any extent to do that.
41:27I believe this has tainted the credibility
41:29until the time the CJP spokesperson
41:31do not come out and say that this is the intent.
41:35I mean, anybody is free to understand
41:38like that this was always the case
41:40of what the CJP genuinely wanted.
41:46You know, I just want to pull in the CJP spokesperson once again
41:51because, you know, what is going to be the next call?
41:56And once again, Pranav,
41:58I want to come to you very quickly, 10 seconds,
42:01because there are people who are waiting right now,
42:05even at the outer circle,
42:07of wanting to know what next.
42:09Yes, and we are making every effort
42:12to be in touch with every supporter of the CJP.
42:14We are a responsible and a resilient movement
42:16and we will hash out our strategy very soon.
42:19We will take care of every volunteer,
42:21both legally, socially, economically.
42:24So I appreciate your concern, Priti.
42:27But before we end, I would just say
42:30that CJP distances itself from Neha Dora's statement
42:43in Bangladesh, something Abhiji Dipke did as well.
42:46I thank all of you for joining us.
42:49Thank you for taking the time out.
42:50I know it was a big panel today
42:51and you did all have the patience.
42:53I really appreciate it.
42:54I just want to leave our viewers
42:55with what the inner circle is looking now,
43:01looking at this point of time.
43:03These are, of course, vans and buses for detention.
43:08Now, it seems that there is another contingent coming in
43:12and you can, thank you,
43:15a lot of people coming in just to make videos.
43:18But yes, another contingent,
43:19like I told you viewers right in the beginning,
43:22people are coming in groups and clutches
43:24and you can hear the whistles of the paramilitary forces
43:27because every time a group comes
43:29to drown out the protest sound,
43:31you can hear whistles there.
43:34So that's what's happening here,
43:37poised for possibly another face-off
43:40and a small detention again.
43:43We are going to leave our viewers with that,
43:46continuing to report, thank you there,
43:48continuing to report from the inner circle.
43:52Where the Cockroach Janata Party today gave a clarion call
43:54of bringing in the tricolor,
43:56the inner circle completely fortified
43:58while protests continue to rage
44:01right outside the inner circle.
44:05With that, it's goodbye from Pawan and I.