Ananda Sangeetam

Should a mob be allowed to march into a high-security zone of the capital? Never. The Delhi Police had clarified that no permission was sought or given for the Chalo Sansad march. Prohibitory orders were in place: section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Samhita was imposed. Barricades, riot-control vehicles, and thousands of police personnel were deployed. If the unelected and anarchist neophytes who call themselves leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party had any civic sense, they would have ensured that protestors maintain law and order and not challenge the police, who were only doing their duty, or damage public property. That did not happen. Protestors breached through the barricades. The police resorted to tear gas and lathi charge to disperse them. Some protestors pelted stones. As per the Delhi Police, more than 118 police personnel and 60 protestors were injured (if true, it shows that the mob was more brutal). Around 70 protestors were detained. The mob vandalised 15 to 20 police and government vehicles and other property, paid for by taxpaying citizens like me. The protest caused inconvenience to many common citizens. The DMRC had to shut down five metro stations for security concerns. Thousands of office-goers, students, and daily commuters had to eitehr walk long distances or take buses, auto-rickshaws and cabs. I am surprised the government is entertaining the clowns of CJP: it is a dangerous precedent. There are many in the country who can occupy Jantar Mantar indefinitely with a few hundreds or march to the parliament with a few thousands. Will the government talk with each of them? In the Mahābhārata, Yakṣa asks Yudhīṣṭhira which nation is dead. Yudhīṣṭhira answers, a nation without a king is dead. Any form of government is better than anarchy, where there is no accountability, no responsibility, and no chain of command. In a face-off between an anarchist mob and the police, a wise man would stand with the police. Photo from the BBC website.