At resurrected Jantar Mantar stage, the scars of violence and defiant slogans

Many of those gathered at the CJP’s protest are nursing visible injuries. Volunteers say they worked through the night to erect the stage the police had smashed on Monday. But the camp is running low on critical supplies, food and water.

Written by: Vidheesha Kuntamalla, Devansh Mittal

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 22, 2026 04:23 AM IST

Many of those gathered on Tuesday had travelled from different states and had returned to the protest site despite being caught in Monday’s clashes. (Express photo by Vidheesha Kuntamalla enhanced by AI)

By afternoon on Tuesday, the first row in front of the stage at the protest site at Jantar Mantar was packed once again.

Many of them — positioned an iron barricade away from the stage — were among those who got detained or sustained injuries barely 24 hours ago as the police and paramilitary forces used teargas and resorted to lathicharge to manage Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protesters who took part in the ‘Sansad Chalo March’. The protesters have been demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, including the NEET-UG paper leak issue.

On Tuesday, many turned up with bandages on the foreheads, wrists or ankles; and casts on their legs or hands. Sitting before a hastily rebuilt stage, they started raising slogans again.

The protest site, however, bore little resemblance to what it had looked like the previous afternoon. While some condemned the police action on Monday, others were heard saying: “We are not scared of the police.”

On Monday, thousands of protesters, to shield themselves against police action on Parliament Street, had arrived at Jantar Mantar, believing it would be a safe refuge. Within minutes, however, security personnel reached the protest site. Teargas shells were fired and lathicharge followed. In less than 10 minutes, the month-old protest site — the centrepiece of the CJP campaign — was emptied, the stage dismantled.

Banners and posters were ripped apart. Tents collapsed. Protesters ran out crying, coughing and shouting in anger. Slogans that had filled the air were replaced by commotion.

Even as many thought that Monday’s crackdown had brought the protest to an end, by night, volunteers started returning. By Tuesday morning, they had rebuilt the stage. It stood draped in freshly tied red cloth, with mattresses and pillows strewn across the carpeted platform. The repairs were hurried, and the violence of the previous day was still visible. The canopy had been torn on the backdrop. Sections of its metal frame remained bent.

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Addressing the gathering from the rebuilt stage, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced that the organisation would pursue legal action against Delhi Police over Monday’s crackdown. When he asked the crowd if they were prepared to spend a few more days at the protest site “for the future of the country”, the response came in the form of loud cheers.

At one end of the stage stood portraits of Sonam Wangchuk alongside photographs of students who had died by suicide in the aftermath of the NEET re-examination controversy.

Organisers also converted a smaller platform into a relief area where volunteers distributed first aid, water and food to those hurt during the crackdown.

Beside the stage, hundreds of shoes and slippers had been carefully arranged in a large rectangle across the road — a silent monument, volunteers said, to the police action a day earlier.

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Throughout the afternoon, chants of “Delhi Police, hai hai”, “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Jai Bhim” and “Dharmendra Pradhan istifa do (resign)” rolled across the protest site. Members of outfits, including AISA, SFI, AISF, Collective, DISHA and ASAP formed circles, raising slogans, as police personnel watched from a distance. At intervals, announcements from loudspeakers urged protesters to stop raising slogans.

“The stage that we are sitting on right now was broken around 3.30 pm yesterday,” said Eeshna, Delhi in-charge of the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), the students’ wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, who is also volunteering with the CJP.

“The forces came in and pushed the students. Many started running towards the stage and climbed over the barricades behind it. They broke the iron grill between the crowd and the stage where Abhijeet Dipke and the others were sitting,” she said.

She said volunteers spent the entire night rebuilding the camp.“We set the stage again in the night,” she said. “We haven’t been able to sleep at all for days.”

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The camp, however, was struggling to meet even its basic needs. “We have run out of water. There is absolutely no food. It would be of great help if someone comes forward and contributes,” Eeshna said.

According to her, different student organisations had divided responsibilities to keep the protest functioning despite the damage. “ASAP is taking care of security, food and water. AISA was on a hunger strike until yesterday. AISF has been mobilising people, and SFI is managing the library we have set up here,” she said.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the organisation had not received any communication from the Centre following Monday’s meeting with Union Minister J P Nadda.

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

Devansh Mittal

Devansh Mittal is a Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in the New Delhi City bureau. He reports on urban policy, civic governance, and infrastructure in the National Capital Region, with a growing focus on housing, land policy, transport, and the disruption economy and its social implications. Professional Background Education: He studied Political Science at Ashoka University. Core Beats: His reporting focuses on policy and governance in the National Capital Region, one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. He covers housing and land policy, municipal governance, urban transport, and the interface between infrastructure, regulation, and everyday life in the city. Recent Notable Work His recent reporting includes in-depth examinations of urban policy and its on-ground consequences: An investigation into subvention-linked home loans that documented how homebuyers were drawn into under-construction projects through a “builder–bank” nexus, often leaving them financially exposed when delivery stalled. A detailed report on why Delhi’s land-pooling policy has remained stalled since 2007, tracing how fragmented land ownership, policy design flaws, and mistrust among stakeholders have kept one of the capital’s flagship urban reforms in limbo. A reported piece examining the collapse of an electric mobility startup and what it meant for women drivers dependent on the platform for livelihoods. Reporting Approach Devansh’s work combines on-ground reporting with analysis of government data, court records, and academic research. He regularly reports from neighbourhoods, government offices, and courtrooms to explain how decisions on housing, transport, and the disruption economy shape everyday life in the city. Contact X (Twitter): @devanshmittal_ Email: devansh.mittal@expressindia.com ... Read More

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