New Delhi: 6.20 pm: Refusing to apologise for police action at India Gate, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said people can't protest in area where Section 144 is imposed. He also blamed media for fuelling the violence.
6.15 pm: Neeraj Kumar said that Delhi Police have identified anti-social elements who were responsible for creating rucks at India Gate and they will act against them.
4.49 pm: Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna said that the Delhi Police Commissioner had expressed regret over the action taken at India Gate on Sunday, and had assured that the police would exercise maximum restraint in future. However, he also appealed to the protesters to maintain calm.
4:45 pm: Student representatives and youth groups are invited at 5 pm at my residence in an open house to share their views, said Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, at a press conference.
3:10 pm: Protesters have gathered at Jantar Mantar in large numbers after police barricaded India Gate in the morning.
3:00 pm: BJP mounts pressure on the government, says an all-party meeting should called on the gangrape issue.
Speaking to media, Leader of Opposition Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said BJP leaders would meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday to demand a special Parliament session on the issue. She said that the Opposition had raised the rape issue in the Winter Session but the government did nothing about it.
2:04 pm: Women representatives met the Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna on Monday to discuss the safety of women in the city. Tejinder Khanna was called back from his vacation to the United States.
1:10 pm: Aam Adami Party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal also hit out at Shinde for his 'Maoist' remark saying it is very unfortunate that it is coming from the Union Home Minister.
1 pm: Protesters also reacted to Shinde's remarks saying how can a minister call them "Maoists". They also said that they don't know why politicians and ministers are hesitating meeting them.
One of the student present at Jantar Mantar for the present reacted to the PM's statement saying, "Assurances have been made since independence but nothing happens. They never reach to any conclusion. They will make assurances and then people will forget it and things will move on."
12:21 pm: CPM leader Brinda Karat also reacted to Shinde's statement saying she doesn't "understand this Home Minister".
Karat also reacted to the PM's statement saying that rather that assuring that action would be taken, he should tell what actions would be taken. However, she said she was happy that Manmohan Singh has finally broken his silence on the issue.
11:42 pm: In a medical update of the rape survivor, doctors said she was still on ventilator and had bouts of vomiting on Sunday night. The doctors were doing a detailed check up of the woman now.
11:17 am: Reacting to the PM's address, BJP leader Smriti Irani said that people wanted the government to go beyond words and show action.
11:09 am: BJP says the government must talk to the protesters. Talking on Shinde's statement, Prakash Javedar said: "P Chidambaram as the Home Minister was willing to talk to even Maoist. These are genuine protesters and the government must talk to them."
10:15 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the nation on the Delhi gangrape case and the anti-rape protests. He said that while people's anger was justified, violence won't help.
9:30 am: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde defends police action, says hooligans had joined protesters and were damaging public property. He also said that probe has been ordered into the violence at India Gate.
9:18 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to address the nation at 12 noon on Monday, a day after he made a statement on the Delhi gangrape protests.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will now meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence and not Hyderabad House due to law and order concerns.
8:40 am: A day after the police crackdown on anti-rape protesters at India Gate, the police have now cleared the media from India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan. All media vans have been removed from the two locations and the policemen have told the media that they could not assemble there as Section 144 was in place. All the roads leading to India Gate have also been heavily barricaded.
It's the morning after the police crackdown on the anti-rape protesters at India Gate. The government has apologised for it, but says that it cannot allow protests at India Gate. Adamant protesters, however, have said that they will be back.
As a precautionary measure, nine metro stations around India Gate, namely Pragati Maidan, Mandi House, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Khan Market, Race Course, Rajiv Chowk and Barakhamba will be shut on Monday.
Police and protesters clashed through the day on Sunday before a final crackdown in the evening. Police rained lathis and fired tear gas to drive away protesters.
More than 140 protesters including mediapersons and police personnel, who were covering protest at India Gate, were injured in Sunday's clashes at India Gate. One police constable, Subhash Tomar, has been seriously injured and is battling for life at Delhi Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
The protesters, who have been demanding justice for the 23-year-old survivor of the brutal gangrape and vicious physical assault in a moving bus by a group of men, accused the police of using brute force and demanded Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar's resignation. However, Kumar ruled out his resignation and said that he "did not believe in quitting" and would continue to do his job even as he admitted that his force could have handled the situation at India Gate in Sunday in a better way. The comment came after Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit demanded that senior police officers should take accountability for the gangrape incident and the crack down at India Gate.
Justifying the action against protestors at India Gate, the Police Commissioner said that hooligans and political elements had hijacked the peaceful protests which resulted in violence and destruction of public property, and so they were forced to use teargas and water cannons to maintain law and order in a highly sensitive area of the national capital which includes Parliament, Rashtrapati Bhawan and important government offices.
Meanwhile, Sheila Dikshit met Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to review law and order situation in the capital. After meeting Shinde, Sheila said that the movement will lose its seriousness if it's politicised.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also made a statement to reassure protesters on Sunday saying, "I assure you that we will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety to all women in this country. There is genuine and justified anger at this ghastly incident. We are constantly monitoring her medical condition."
Earlier in the day, Congress President Sonia Gandhi met a group of protestors and assured them that all steps will be taken to fast-track the case so that the assailants get punishment.
Various political parties have demanded a special Parliament session to convene a special session of Parliament for amending the existing law to provide death sentence for heinous crimes against women. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj called for an all-party meeting and made an appeal to youths not to resort to violence, saying this is not the solution.
Gangrape survivor conscious, but serious
Six km away from India Gate, at the Safdurjung hospital, the 23-year-old rape survivor continues to fight for her life. Doctors say her condition has deteriorated. After being off ventilator support for more than 36 hours, she had to be put back on it. Doctors say she is conscious, her vitals are stable but her condition is serious. ####
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