'No Permission Taken': Delhi Police On 'We20' Meet After CPI(M), Cong Said Force Stopped Gathering

According to the police, after receiving information, they discovered that individuals had gathered and a tent had been constructed at the premises.

Senior Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh.

Source : PTI

A scuffle erupted on Saturday after police objected to a conclave held at a CPI(M)-owned building, where activists and opposition leaders gathered to critically evaluate the government's narrative on the G20, claiming the organisers failed to inform or obtain permission for the event, which was held in a "sensitive" zone, news agency PTI reported. People were barred from attending the 'We20 meeting' hosted at the Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in a high-security area, according to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who questioned the police action against a "peaceful" assembly.

The CPI(M) said that such gatherings or seminars in private premises did not require police authorization, and that the "Modi government must stop interfering, through the Delhi Police, in citizens' democratic right to hold discussions and seminars in the capital."

According to the police, after receiving information, they discovered that individuals had gathered and a tent had been constructed at the premises.

A senior police official stated that the organisers could not present any legitimate permit and that they had not informed the police about the programme or the gathering.

Because DDU Marg is a sensitive zone, and in light of the forthcoming G-20 summit, no gathering without prior permission or intimation is permitted, the officer urged the planners to remove tents and not to continue the programming without a legal licence.

The CPI (M) said the Delhi Police action was uncalled for and an effort to silence dissident voices.

“The Surjeet Bhawan is owned by the CPI(M) where it conducts various activities, including party education and seminars. Various civil society organisations, under the banner of We20, were conducting a meeting on the issues raised by the forthcoming G20 summit,” the party's statement was quoted by PTI in its report. 

“The CPI(M) strongly protests against this arbitrary action of the Delhi Police. The Modi government must stop interfering, through the Delhi Police, in the democratic right of citizens to hold discussions and seminars in the capital,” it said.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Ramesh stated that the meeting was completely quiet, with no street demonstrations, and that while he was able to enter the venue at 10.30 a.m., exiting was tough.

“It is extraordinary that Delhi Police is stopping people from attending the We20 meeting organised by activists representing ‘We, The People’, inside a building that belongs to the CPM,” Ramesh said.

“The meeting is perfectly peaceful. There are no street protests. I managed to enter at 10:30 am before Delhi Police started its operation but finding it difficult to exit now. This is New India Democracy,” he said.

The organisers of the event, in an issued statement, alleged that: “in an unbelievable step, Delhi Police barricaded the gates to Surjeet Bhawan not letting anyone in around 11 am.” “This when Jairam Ramesh, Aneel Hegde, MP (RS), Medha Patkar (NBA), Vandana Shiva (Navdanya), Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Thomas Franco, Shaktiman Ghosh and others were analysing how the Modi administration projected to the global leaders of G20 that he is governing India in the best traditions of liberal democracy,” the statement further reads.