CJP protest site dismantled after Parliament march blocked, agitation to continue: Dipke
The Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest camp at Jantar Mantar was dismantled by Delhi Police on Monday evening, hours after security forces blocked the party’s ‘Chalo Sansad’ march with tear gas and baton charges, even as protesters vowed to continue their agitation until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
The stage that had become the focal point of the month-long protest, where activist Sonam Wangchuk had observed his hunger strike, was taken down by police. Trampolines, carpets, mattresses and other protest material were removed from the site, signalling the end of the physical encampment that had stood at Jantar Mantar since early June.
Despite the clearance, hundreds of students and supporters regrouped at Jantar Mantar by evening. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke addressed the gathering from a tempo fitted with loudspeakers, declaring that the movement would continue. Some stood on top of the vehicle while others raised slogans around it. The CJP leaders along with Wangchuk’s wife Geetanjali Angmo gathered near Kerala House to continue the sit-in protest.
The only people left at the site were workers clearing the area, police, and paramilitary personnel, and police vehicles stood nearby. Nearly 200 metres from the protest site, however, over 1,000 protesters remained on the road.
CJP volunteers said they would rebuild the stage, even as police told the protesters that they could not hold demonstrations anywhere except Jantar Mantar under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The day’s events, however, had left the protesters divided.
The CJP had initially organised a one-day demonstration at Jantar Mantar on June 6, which gradually evolved into a full-fledged sit-in featuring multiple hunger strikers, including Wangchuk, drawing students and activists from across the country.
The dismantling of the protest site came after a tense day in central Delhi. Thousands of protesters assembled near Parliament Street and attempted to march towards Parliament, demanding accountability for alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks, along with Pradhan’s resignation. Heavy security deployment prevented the march from advancing. Police used tear gas shells and carried out baton charges after clashes broke out between protesters and security personnel while attempting to disperse the crowd. Meanwhile, Delhi Police dismissed as false viral claims circulating on social media that officers assaulted Angmo and seriously injured dozens of protesters, including a 12-year-old girl.
The clarification came after CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das alleged on social media platform X that police pulled Angmo’s hair and that “40-50 heads were broken”, including that of a 12-year-old girl. In a fact-check posted on X, Delhi Police rejected the allegations, stating that the claims were “not true” and urging people not to circulate or amplify misleading information.
“The claims being circulated in the posts are not true. Please do not spread or amplify false or misleading information,” the police said. The protests, which began over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks, gained momentum in recent weeks following Wangchuk’s hunger strike, culminating in Monday’s attempted march to Parliament and the subsequent clearance of the Jantar Mantar protest site.
