Delhi looked like a curfew zone

 
New Delhi, Oct 10: India's national Capital looked like a fortress with roads dominated by men and women in uniform. People took hours to go from one place to another due to traffic diversions. 

More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across Delhi. Right from morning, one could hear appeals and warnings from Delhi Police asking citizens to stay away from the protests else they could face punitive action. The area around Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi looked like curfew zone on Saturday and reminded one of Kashmir of the late 90s. Jantar Mantar is walking distance from Parliament and not too far from the seat of power either. This is where the protesters of the Cockroach Janata Party were to assemble today to demand resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar and rollback of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) but a large posse of men  in uniform from Delhi Police, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force and Rapid Action Force armed with anti riot gear kept activists of the CJP away. 

For as long as one could see around roads leading to Jantar Mantar, there were yellow barricades at every fifty meters. Big buses were also used to block roads around Jantar Mantar right from early morning.  The policewomen were armed with helmets and batons. Nearly half a dozen shops near Shangri la Hotel near Jantar Mantar, were also closed. Only the Mother Dairy booth was open.

Journalists asked to operate from a designated spot
Journalists began coming to Jantar Mantar as early as 5 a.m. on Saturday to check how the day would unfold. Those who came early morning said that they had succeeded in talking to two CJP protesters but by 9.30 a.m. when this correspondent reached the area, not a single CJP protester was in sight. Journalists who had come to Jantar Mantar to cover the protest were cordoned off into a designated spot nearby. Policemen were asking journalists and camera persons  to stand in a corner allotted for them. There were constant checks by security personnel. This correspondent's car was stopped at least five times by the policemen between South Avenue and Janpath to check her credentials and the purpose of being present near Jantar Mantar.

Journalists, Members of Parliament, former Chief Ministers and activists detained
Four former Chief Ministers from the opposition camp including former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar were detained as they tried to join the CJP protest. So was senior CPI M leader Brinda Karat. Noted economist Jean Dreze, senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, activists Anjali and Aban Raza were detained by the Delhi Police. Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament John Brittas who was at Jantar Mantar around 10 a.m. told this correspondent that even he was stopped by security personnel six times. In fact, his car was stopped on the way to Kerala House. John Brittas said that even the basic rights of citizens are being trampled in India.