A proposal to develop Freedom Park as a tourism destination has drawn the ire of people from various walks of life, who fear the space will be commercialised and they would be robbed of the only space available to hold protests. Several organisations have come together to form Save Freedom Park Struggle Committee and will hold a protest on Saturday at Freedom Park against using the land for other purposes.
The committee, which held a press conference on Wednesday, alleged that the proposal was an attempt to acquire the land from the BBMP and move protests to some other place.
CITU leader S. Varalakshmi said staging protests is an essential part of a democratic setup and it is right of pro-people organisations to hold agitations for the welfare of society at large. Over the years the place of dharna has been shifted from near the Vidhana Soudha to K.R.Circle, and then to Freedom Park.
However, the BBMP has denied that the land is being transferred to the Department of Tourism and that the space for protests will be used for other purposes.
