Boat Club is back on map as India's resistance square

For decades, Boat Club was the destination for dissent a go-to spot for protesters of all ilk, from college kids and little-known politicians to disgruntled civil rights activists and even an army of nearly five lakh farmers who once brought the government down on its knees.

That was until early 90s when protests and demonstrations were banned at Boat Club, a prime slice of real estate in posh Lutyens' Delhi that stood out with its sylvan lawns around a recreational canal with boats for family pleasure rides.

Boat Club is back on the map as the resistance square of the nation, with the Supreme Court today lifting the blanket ban on rallies, dharnas and sit-ins at the iconic lawns that had been in place for over two decades.

In its ruling, the court included Jantar Mantar, a landmark 18th-century monument a few kilometres from Boat Club that also was made off-limits to protesters on October 5 last year.

Perhaps the most famous protest Boat Club ever hosted was led by Mahendra Singh Tikait, a Haryana farmer and leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who had spearheaded a massive protest by peasants from Uttar Pradesh in 1988 in the sprawling laws facing the Raisina Hill the seat of the government.

The crowd of protesting farmers with tractors and bullock-carts in tow, stretched nearly 3 km, between India Gate and Vijay Chowk that overlooks the iconic North and
Asked about the rally led by Tikait, Goel said: "The protesters - in such a large numbers - had made the government helpless."