Delhi police curtail WE-20 people’s summit, organisers call it ‘undeclared Emergency’

‘Undeclared Emergency’, complained organisers on Saturday as Delhi Police swooped down on the HKS Surjeet Bhavan, where the WE20-Peoples’ Summit has been going on.

Police locked the gate and turned away people by claiming that the event had been cancelled even as the first session of the second day was in progress. Speakers who were reportedly inside included Vandana Shiva, Medha Patkar, Nandini Sundar and Jairam Ramesh among others.

Organisers pointed out that the summit was absolutely peaceful, was being held in a closed auditorium, was attended by a few hundred people and caused no disruption.

“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. The meeting is perfectly peaceful. There are no street protests. I managed to enter at 10:30 am before Delhi Police started its operations but had difficulty exiting now. This is New India Democracy,” posted Jairam Ramesh on X..

“Deeply distressed that as citizen initiative We20 is under way in HKS Surjeet Bhawan Delhi, Delhi Police has locked the gates, disallowing people from entering or exiting. Leading activists & independent thinkers silenced! Is this a democracy in which people can gather & reflect?” posted Harsh Mander.

The three-day summit, which started on Friday 18 August, to highlight the anti-people policies of the G-20 countries had been attended on the opening day, among others, by Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar, Jayati Ghosh, Manoj Jha, Harsh Mander, Arun Kumar, Brinda Karat, Hannan Mollah and Rajeev Gowda, according to the official website.

In the run-up to the 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit to be held in New Delhi in early September, a host of trade unions, civil society organisations, and concerned citizens have come together at the We20: Peoples’ Summit on G20.

The peoples’ summit was hosted to deliberate upon key issues such as agriculture, climate crisis, Just energy transition, international trade, banking, labour, shrinking democratic spaces and rising inequality.