Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Wednesday launched a blistering attack against the Centre, accusing it of institutionalising authoritarianism and systematically muzzling public dissent.
The Thackeray camp’s criticism comes in the wake of the Delhi Police’s decision to strip Jantar Mantar of its decades-long status as a designated demonstration venue.
The Thackeray camp in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Samaana’, noted that under new police orders, protests have been pushed far away from the seat of power to remote locations — Ramlila Maidan (4 km away), CBD Ground in Shahdara (12 km away), and Burari Ground (20-21 km away). The party argued this is a deliberate strategy to ensure public agitation creates no ripples in Parliament or the national consciousness.
Highlighting the commercialisation of democratic rights, the editorial pointed out that venues like Ramlila Maidan cost upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh per day, require months of advance booking, and are frequently tied up for religious or ruling-party events. Contrasting this with the accessible, fee-free nature of Jantar Mantar, the editorial labelled the new financial hurdles an exorbitant “Jizya tax” levied on those daring to voice opposition.
Drawing comparisons to India’s freedom struggle — where historic movements thrived around Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj, and near Parliament — the editorial stressed that peaceful assembly is a constitutionally protected right. Pushing voices outside city limits, it argued, signals deep-seated administrative fear. The administrative clampdown follows heightened political friction surrounding demonstrations by groups like the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) demanding accountability over electoral integrity, which triggered heavy security deployments and mass preventive detentions in the capital, the editorial added.
The Thackeray faction asserted that opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have strongly condemned the crackdown, while legal challenges against the de-notification of Jantar Mantar have rapidly moved to the Delhi High Court.
Firing a stern warning at the Central government, the editorial said, “Jantar Mantar has become a living memorial of agitations. The BJP rule converted a symbol of democracy into a memorial. This memorial of Jantar Mantar will become the tomb of dictatorial tendencies. Naturally, Jantar Mantar will not stay quiet; the present rulers themselves will have to run away.”
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena claimed that when a government begins to “fear its own public, the countdown to its end has officially begun”.
–IANS
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