Jantar Mantar protest: Delhi Police land at PGs with ‘parental guidance’

Around 50 residents at a north Delhi PG accommodation attended a police session regarding safety

NEW DELHI: Around dinner time at a paying guest accommodation in north Delhi’s Shakti Nagar, around 50 residents gathered for a routine police session on safety. Instead, a North Campus student alleged, police personnel urged them to stay away from the Oct 10 protest, warning that participation could lead to detention and damage their future employment prospects.“They kept saying our parents had sent us here to study. They said the protest was illegal, that we would be detained if we went and that we would not get jobs in the future,” said a Delhi University student, adding that the address lasted about 25 minutes.

Following the Satya Niketan building collapse, police outreach had focused on safety, with an officer sharing contact numbers for assistance. Wednesday’s visit, the student said, was arranged unexpectedly between regular monthly sessions.

“They had only recently visited, so we assumed it would be about building safety after another recent collapse.”The account comes amid reports that Delhi Police has sought help from university and college administrations and PG owners to discourage students from joining the proposed demonstration seeking removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Three police personnel visited the Shakti Nagar PG, which houses around 120 residents, the student said, describing the address as emotionally manipulative.

Another student alleged that police stopped him from recording, even as constables filmed the meeting.A senior police officer described it as an outreach programme to advise students to focus on their careers and avoid activities that could disrupt law and order.Students claimed that the outreach was extending beyond organised meetings to informal gatherings, private coaching centres and college societies.

Videos of police personnel visiting some of these places are circulating on campus WhatsApp groups, they said.A DU student said he was standing with friends when cops approached them and asked about their plans. The questions, he said, included how many people from their area were likely to attend the demonstration and whether they intended to join. Calling the move “unprecedented”, he also said the cops warned that participation could violate the code of conduct.“Being part of a student organisation, I regularly attend protests. But this time, police have been reaching out to us whenever we are gathering in groups,” he said. “Usually, it is about coordination, but this time, police seem to be advising us against attending.” Another student said police personnel had visited private coaching centres and approached college societies.The exercise seems to have extended beyond Delhi. A member of All India Students’ Federation said police began calling him before he left Mumbai, asking about his travel plans. “I think they have identified certain student organisations whose movements they want to track,” he said.Students questioned why an exercise presented as a measure to maintain public order has turned into an attempt to deter participation in the protest.