After an in-house committee gave a clean chit to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by a former Supreme Court staffer, women protesters from various groups had come together for the first time on Tuesday morning outside the Supreme Court to express their discontent with the way the case was handled and the complainant treated. No sooner had the protest kicked off that over 30 women protesters were pushed, shoved, and loaded by the authorities into police vans, and sent to Mandir Marg Police Station where they were detained for nearly four hours, and later released. A few journalists were detained too, and Section 144 was invoked by the cops in the area outside the Supreme Court.  

This was Day 1.

On Wednesday morning, the undeterred women protesters gathered outside Gate No. 7 of Rajiv Chowk Metro Station at the ever-packed Connaught Place, to take part in a second protest. This time, they were fewer in number as compared to Tuesday, as were the media personnel present to cover the protest. But what remained unchanged from the previous day was the massive deployment of police troops and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel present at the spot, who outnumbered the protesters five to one on average.

At 11 am, the women—armed with placards and posters—began chanting slogans. What followed was an exact replica of what went down outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Female police personnel started dragging protesters into police buses parked nearby, and took them to Mandir Marg Police Station to be detained. Section 144 had been invoked once again.

Poonam Kaushik of the Pragatisheel Mahila Sanghathan was one such protester who was detained on both days. After being loaded into the police van on Day 2, she spoke to members of the press with her head sticking out of the van window, talking loudly because of the ensuing chaos both within and outside the van. When asked why the protesters were being taken away, she said: “The police are not allowing us to protest. We don’t know what they (police) want.” When asked whether the protests would go on till Friday—which is when the Court breaks for summer—she said: “Protests will go on not only till Friday but till justice is served.”

As the bus drove away, chants of “We want justice” filled the air till the vehicle was out of sight.

The police loading protesters into a police van.

Activist Annie Raja, who was present for the protests on both days, said these protests would go on until and unless justice prevails. “It affects all the women of this country—not just one complainant. This (case) will be a precedent because if the CJI can do this, then anyone can violate the law of the land. We do not want such a situation to arise. What we are today is because of our long-standing struggles and sacrifices.”

Speaking of the large deployment of police personnel, she said: “I am wondering about the reason for such a huge deployment of police personnel and paramilitary forces. We are not anti-nationals or murderers yet we are being treated like criminals. All we are saying is that justice should prevail in this country and that the law is equal for everyone.” When asked why no political party had come forward to take up this issue along with the protesters, she said: “This is the future of the girls that are yet to be born in this country—we cannot wait till some political group comes out with support or not.”

Raja told Newslaundry this wasn’t their first fight, and the protesters are well aware of what they’re fighting for. “We have fought all our lives for the right cause and are not afraid of anything. They can deploy any number of police forces but our spirit will be high because we are fighting for justice—not only for the complainant but for all the women and people in this country.”

Following yesterday’s sequence of events, similar protests are springing up in different parts of the country. Raja said, “This isn’t a lower court; the CJI himself is involved in this case and that makes us come forth with more vigour and energy. All our comrades are here in equal spirit and energy, but my message to those sitting on the fence and looking at us would be to come and join the protests. This is a fight not for one complainant but for the entire justice system of India.”

Activist Annie Raja, who was present at the protests on both days.

Speaking with Newslaundry, Masooma Ranalvi, founder of WeSpeakOut, said despite there not being many women protesters present today, the police still rounded them up and took them away in a van. “Apparently, they did not have the right to protest for which all of us have come here today. It is a peaceful protest in which we are putting forth our point of view that we are unhappy with the way the sexual harassment case (against the CJI) has unfolded in the Supreme Court. In a democracy, we don’t have the right to dissent—that much is evident.”

She said the protesters are asking for something simple: due process. “And where would you expect due process if not in the Supreme Court of India? This is the highest place you can go to and if you don’t get due justice here, then what justice is there for any women in the country? We have been fighting against sexual harassment at workplaces and the law which has come into effect is the result of a lot of struggle that women’s groups across the country have undergone. Now that we have the law, and a case which involves the CJI, and the Supreme Court tramples on this process itself … there is absolutely no shred of what you would call basic elements of the principles of justice.”

Ranalvi added: “The force with which this protest is being put down, it will be repelled by even more force.”

A third protest demonstration has been called for on Thursday, May 9, outside Rajiv Chowk Metro’s Gate No. 3 at 12 noon, to condemn the clean chit given to the CJI, as well as to condemn the repeated detention of people protesting against it.