Our Take: Who Spun It, Who Didn’t
Spin Meter: Some Spin
For more than 30 years, Jantar Mantar was where Delhi went to yell at the government. Farmers, wrestlers, students, the Bhopal survivors. Free, central, near Parliament. This week Delhi Police took it off the list and offered three new spots: Ramlila Ground, about 4 km away and booked solid for two and a half months; CBD Ground, 13 km out and reportedly under a pile of garbage; and Burari, 15 km out. And they charge rent. Ramlila runs ₹50,000 a day plus a deposit. Nothing says “we hear you” like a booking fee.
Now the excuse. Police told the High Court they were following a Supreme Court order. The notice itself credits a Home Ministry committee. Then the Solicitor General told the Supreme Court it had nothing to do with the court’s order. That’s three stories from one government in one week. Pick one, fellas.
Upside: the Supreme Court is hearing it. The protest about the protest site gets a court date.
Left
The Wire: “Jantar Mantar: What Experts Feel About the Denotification of Dissent”
Best catch in the bunch: Jantar Mantar may never have been formally notified, so how do you de-notify it? Sharp. Then it lets a guest declare India “indeed now in an autocracy,” bumps the Ramlila price to “up to Rs 2 lakhs, a report says,” and never mentions the Supreme Court asked for a new site in the first place. Great question, wrapped in a eulogy.
Center
BBC: “A thousand slogans echoed here – but it could be the end for iconic Delhi protest site”
Gave the history, the costs, the police’s stated reason and the critics, and let the activists talk without letting them write the headline. Missed the part where the government’s own notice contradicts what police told the court. Good feature. Light on the receipts.
Right
Republic World: “Jantar Mantar No Longer A Protest Venue, Delhi Police Designates 3 New Sites”
Republic, playing it straight? Quotes the Supreme Court bench, names the Home Ministry committee, covers the opposition’s court challenges. We checked twice. Docked for leaving out the two things critics care about: the rent and the distance. Calm and accurate, and a little convenient.
The facts, checked
- CONFIRMEDDelhi Police’s order (dated Oct. 11, issued Oct. 12) dropped Jantar Mantar and named Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground (The Hindu, Republic World, Indian Express).
- CONFIRMEDDistances from Jantar Mantar: Ramlila about 4 km, CBD Ground 13 km, Burari 15 km (The Hindu).
- CONFIRMEDRamlila costs ₹50,000 a day plus a ₹55,000 refundable deposit, and it’s booked for about 2.5 months (The Hindu, citing PTI).
- CONFIRMEDPolice told the Delhi High Court they acted under the Supreme Court’s Oct. 9 order. The notice cites a Home Ministry committee. The Solicitor General then told the Supreme Court it wasn’t prompted by the Oct. 9 observations (Indian Express, Hindustan Times).
- CONFIRMEDThe Supreme Court has issued notice on the challenges (Indian Express, India Today).
- UNVERIFIED“Up to Rs 2 lakhs” to book Ramlila (The Wire). That’s higher than the ₹1.21 lakh total The Hindu and PTI report.
Closest to the truth: BBC (center), with Republic World close behind
Nobody lied. The Wire had the sharpest legal question and the heaviest spin. Republic was accurate and left out the parts that make the government look bad. BBC balanced it best. On facts and tone, the right edged out the left this round. Correction to our earlier version: we said the new sites were up to 44 km away. They’re 4 to 15 km from Jantar Mantar. Our bad, fixed.
Satire-free zone: the jokes are ours, the facts are not made up. Grades and “Our Take” are analysis and opinion, not news. Scores follow the facts, not the team jersey.
Read the full story at BBC News
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