Despite crackdown, protesters rebuild stage, tents overnight

Sometime in the intervening night between Monday and Tuesday, young people returned to Jantar Mantar with their hands and put the protest back together. The police had dismantled the stage and removed the tents after the crackdown on Monday afternoon. By dawn on Tuesday, July 21, the tents were up again. By 11:30 am, the CJP posted a photograph from the site that needed no caption beyond the words it carried: “Jantar Mantar Is Again Packed. The more you suppress us, the more we will rise.”

The Cockroach Janata Party on Tuesday vowed to continue its protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, a day after police used force to stop protesters marching towards Parliament and dismantled the protest site. Protesters began returning to Jantar Mantar early Tuesday after the platform called on supporters to continue the agitation.

In the morning, a group of young supporters narrated their experiences to Dipke, alleging that police personnel without name tags had beaten up the protesters, including women, and called them “terrorists”. Dipke was seen folding his hands and apologising to them.

The protest site remained packed through the afternoon as students, joined by parents and supporters, raised slogans over the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination and reiterated their demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.  Many protesters said Monday’s confrontation with the security personnel had failed to deter them and instead drawn more people to the movement.

Delhi University student Sakshi Chanda, who participated in Monday’s march to Parliament, alleged that the police action had only intensified the protest. “The kind of police brutality we witnessed yesterday only strengthened our resolve. We have come back because this movement has been built through the sacrifices of so many. We cannot allow that to go in vain. We will continue until our voices are heard,” she said.

Standing beside her, Chanda’s mother said parents had a responsibility to stand with students. “I came here today because this is about the future of our children. If we do not stand with them now, who will? They are asking questions about their education and careers, and they deserve to be heard,” she said.