The Bengaluru police on Friday denied permission to the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) Tiranga march that was scheduled to take place at 4 pm from Town Hall to Mysore Bank Circle. The permission has been denied citing that demonstrations are not allowed outside Freedom Park, which is the designated venue for protests in the city.
According to a report by Deccan Herald, a senior police official said that CJP had announced the march on social media about the demonstration at Town Hall and since it is not a venue designated for protests, they have not been given permission. “We'll wait until the evening for further clarity. Some messages have also indicated that the organisers themselves have cancelled the protest,” the officer was quoted to have said.
Meanwhile, Rahul Jagrata, co-ordinator of CJP Karnataka, said that they had sent an intimation letter to the police and that they were yet to receive any official communication from them with regard to the march. Jagrata also said that this wasn’t a protest but rather a peaceful Tiranga march organised by three organisations – CJP, Jagrata Karnataka and My Vote, My Right.
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Over the past few days, calls demanding the lifting of restriction of protests and demonstrations to only Freedom Park, have been growing, with activists and citizens’ groups arguing that it curtails the people’s right to dissent.
On October 13, Horatada Hakkigaagi Janandolana, a movement of progressive and democratic groups and individuals, urged Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar and Home Minister Priyank Kharge to withdraw or amend the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021, which restricts protests to Freedom Park.
“Protests have to happen at the venue where a grievance can be redressed sir and not at a central venue,” the letter said. The group also offered to participate in consultations on revising the rules and suggested reverting to the earlier Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2009.
The 2021 order was introduced under the previous BJP government in Karnataka. It restricts protests, demonstrations and marches to Freedom Park, citing the need to prevent inconvenience to the public.
