Monuments are important tools and symbols of articulating political authority and sovereignty and the same has been used by rulers to assert their dominance as well as to create a legacy of their own. These are therefore, important political sites and have been used by dissidents within the state as zones of protests to articulate their own demands and to subvert state authority. In Delhi, numerous sites have been used for dissent over a long period of time, the choice of space becomes important given their association with state authority and nature of state authority changed, the sites of protests also changed.When dissent is tightly regulated and spaces for protests are earmarked, then moving beyond those earmarked spaces are markers of subversion of state authority, like in the case of Red Fort protests in January.
History is the chronicle of the past; a memoir which encompasses not only the milieu but also various additional aspects which weave into the intricacies of the same. An important facet which contributes to the narrative of history are monuments: spaces and memorials that come to accelerate the wheels of change through protests and dissent. India, being an erstwhile colony, bears testimony to this fact. Revisiting a few of these monuments through the aforementioned lens would give us an understanding of the same.
Sushant Kishore, a researcher, says, “Moving beyond the aesthetics and poetry of monuments as the architectural embellishment of the urban, researchers have explored their role in recording, constructing and narrating memories, ideologies and therefore, identities.” Monuments become symbols which come to play momentous roles, especially in the political unfolding of an era.
The national capital of New Delhi has witnessed the manifestation of the same in more ways than one, right from the independence struggle and movements. This was spurred mostly after the shift of the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi. It can be dated back to the Dandi March. On April 6th, 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi produced salt from the sea water, Queen’s Garden (known earlier as Company Bagh, now as Azad Park) located behind the Town Hall in Chandni Chowk of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) saw swarms of people rally in support of the resistance propagated by Gandhi, spearheaded by city leaders like Desh Bandhu Gupta. It was the same place where, after Gandhi was arrested, on June 22, 1930, Kasturba Gandhi encouraged and appealed to the people of the nation to join the freedom movement.
In November 1921, Gandhi had proposed the boycott of foreign goods, government services, schools, and colleges. Such proclamations were made during meetings for the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements at the Pataudi House near Daryaganj. Meetings and demonstrations of the same sort were time and time again carried out at places like the Town Hall Clock Tower, Jama Masjid, Feroz Shah Kotla, at Karampura (now in West Delhi). Mirza Changezi, a freedom fighter living in Old Delhi, says that many meetings were held at the homes of many nationalists. “Freedom fighters would also meet secretly at Fateh Garh in the northern ridge area near Hindu Rao Hospital. [..] Meetings were held under the garb of mushaira and in the end, the messages were delivered”. (Sultan, 2017)
It was after the Bangladesh War of 1971 that the shift of the centre of dissent from the area that used to beShahjahanabad to New Delhi came about. Prior to 1971, the Red Fort was seen as the most important symbol of Delhi. It was the place from where the 1857 Revolt had begun. Nehru had decided to address the nation after independence from the Red Fort because of the same reason. From the Red Fort the location of the protest shifted to the India Gate,with the placement of the inverted gun and helmet, which also signified the shift of power from the people to the army, and a greater tendency towards authoritarianism.
However, with the passage of time, notably post-independence, the essence and manner of protests saw unprecedented changes. Historian Pierre Nora says these monuments become lieux de memoire (sites of memory) wherein “cultural, social, and political memory crystallizes and secretes itself”. (Kishore, 2015) As the seat of power,was now the Parliament in New Delhi, the focus of dissent moved from Old Delhi to New Delhi.The restrictions were not as stringent then as people could march upto the gates of the Parliament. Often, the parliamentarians would even come out and hear the grievances of the common man.
The Ramlila Maidan saw huge political meetings. The slogan, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” was given by the former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Ramlila Maidan. The colossal rally of June, 1975, led by Jayaprakash Narayan before the Emergency was imposed,culminated here. After the Emergency especially, the places of dissent began to shrink. Conditions and strictures began to be imposed which altered the nature of dissent altogether. However, if the people wanted themselves to be “heard” per se, they would be found at Patel Chowk, which housed the All India Radio and offices of other news agencies. Otherwise, they would be found at 4 Sansad Marg where the Press Trust of India (PTI) building is located.
While the enormous agitations found their way to Ramlila Maidan, smaller intermittent demonstrations were held at Rajghat or the Boat Club near Rajpath. There was no political agenda behind choosing Rajghat as the place of dissent; other than the fact that it was conveniently placed near the interstate bus terminal and the railway stations of Old and New Delhi. Moreover, people would be found outside different ministries or departments raising voices and agitating against various decisions.. However, in 1993 the government imposed a ban on gathering at the Boat Club after the Babri Masjid demolition which has made it a site of dissent in the past.
More recently, the protest centers have been that of Jantar Mantar and the India Gate. Jantar Mantar can, to this day, be seen to house both big and small dharnas and protests; like that of Anna Hazare’s fast for the passing of the Lokpal Bill. While India Gate has seen big demonstrations from that of the Nirbhaya rape case to the most recent Hathras gang-rape. However, restrictions in the form of Section 144 and the constraints imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which does not allow more than thousand people to gather at a protest site have hindered protests and agitations. Moreover, permission has to be sought from the police before any dharna can be held. Sansad Marg and the area outside the Parliament, which were spaces where the common man could give voice to their concerns, have become closely guarded and barricaded towers representing symbols of power and authority.
The CAA-NRC protests saw agitators seeking permission to occupy Jantar Mantar and the Ramlila Maidan, in order to attain physical proximity to the seat of power. However, as a result of the refusal of the same, they found Shaheen Bagh until the pandemic hit the world community. The Farm Bill protests have seen the borders of Delhi, at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri being occupied by the protestors, as they do not have the permission to come inside the national capital. It brings us to a point wherein one is forced to acknowledge the fact that, as Kishore says, “there is no space for spontaneous outrage, public resentment and democratic antagonism”. (2015) These sites and monuments are extensions of our communal memories of social and political transformative discourses, perhaps best exemplified by the storming of the Red Fort on the Republic Day by the dissenting groups- the choice is significant because of the association of the Red Fort with the ruling groups right from the Mughal period, and even now it symbolises the sovereignty of the Indian state. To quote the Supreme Court’s order on Shaheen Bagh’s disruption and blockage of public way, “democracy and dissent go hand in hand”. The interference and restrictions from the sovereign alters the dialogue between the democracy and its people and thereby, leaves the future of the aforementioned memory and the nature of dissent ambivalent. As Kishore says, “[..] the state appropriated these sites for its own purposes, to narrate a singular official history as national memory justifying the state’s sovereignty, often creating a protective ideology of faux-nationalism, where the idea of resistance, protest or revolution becomes anti-nationalism.”
Smriti has done her BA in Literature from Hindu College, Delhi University and MA in Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia University. She is also an Alumna of SBI Youth for India Fellowship.
In a room of her own, you will often find Smriti speak to spectral masked vigilantes who save the world of mortals during nocturnal hours. As a sensorial hybrid, she believes in the sight of bright colours, sound of mountain rivers, loving touch of jumping puppies, and fragrance of old books. Smriti aspires to work as a teaching faculty to create a dialogic classroom space with vibrant discussions.
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