A large cohort of protesters, including students and activists, gathered at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to urge the state and central government to tackle the worrisome air quality in the national capital. Delhi has been suffocating in a man-made gas chamber created by years of neglect, unregulated industrial and vehicular emissions, and a profit-first development model that has pushed public health to the margins.
Speaking at the protest, AISA National General Secretary Prasenjeet said, “Delhi’s toxic air is the cost of a system that protects polluters and punishes the people. Students will not accept a future where clean air becomes a luxury. We demand accountability, structural action, and an end to policies that trade public health for private profit.”
Students, activists, and residents have been raising voices against the deteriorating air quality in the national capital for a month now. In a protest that was held on November 23, earlier this year, a total of 23 protestors were arrested by the Delhi police.
Opposition Protests Outside Parliament Against Deteriorating AQI
The MPs gathered outside the parliament with oxygen masks and banners, taking a jibe at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reading “Mausam ka maza lijiye.”
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi were also present at the protest outside.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari took a jibe at the government over pollution while talking to the news agency ANI. “People outside cannot understand this… It feels like Delhi and a few other cities have been turned into gas chambers, and citizens are being kept there. The BJP government at the Centre and State governments are responsible for this. Opposition MPs will peacefully protest over this today at Makar Dwar in Parliament and draw the government’s attention,” he said.
Court Grants Bail to Nine Students Arrested Ahead of Pollution Protest
As reported by the Indian Express, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to nine students who were arrested ahead of the protest against the pollution on November 23.
The cases were initially registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to assault, obstruction of public servants, and outraging the modesty of women. On November 25, the police also added charges related to making assertions prejudicial to national integration to the FIR registered at the Kartavya Path police station.
