At Jantar Mantar, a night of poetry and solidarity after police crackdown on CJP protests

The gathering cut across generations and professions. Nine-year-old Farheen Siddiqui sat on her brother Fardeen’s shoulders, holding a sketch of Sonam Wangchuk. Nearby stood NEET aspirants from Uttar Pradesh, UPSC candidates, daily wage workers, a Zepto delivery worker who had arrived after finishing his shift, retirees and families with young children.

For many, returning after Monday’s violence was itself the point.

“I came alone, but now so many others from my community will be joining the movement,” said Jitesh Kumar Meena, a member of the Meena tribe from Dausa, Rajasthan, who had spent the previous five days at the protest.

Gesturing towards a poster of Wangchuk, Meena said, “Sonam sir, who is recognised across the world, is here fighting for our Right to Education. It is a matter of great shame that the government has not even sent a minister to engage in dialogue with him. What then is the meaning of democracy?”

Inside the protest site, care had become part of the demonstration.

Volunteers handed out bottles of water, and packets of food to people arriving through the night. Almost every few metres, someone offered refreshments to strangers.

“You look tired, you should eat something,” one protester told another as he passed him a kachori.

At the entrance, volunteers managed the steady stream of people entering through the barricades, greeting them with brightly coloured hand-held fans to offer relief from the heat. Among them was Adreeta Roshni, a dance and movement therapy practitioner and social worker from Kolkata, who had arrived on Sunday night.

She had remained at the entrance since Tuesday evening.

“If theirs is the language of violence, ours is the language of love,” Adreeta said with a big smile on her face, while pointing to her collar bone, hidden under her top where the bruises from the lathi charge on Monday still remain. The protest ebbed and flowed through the night.

Nearby, two young men held a placard that read, “We are victims, we want justice.”

Deep Yadav and Ritick Chowdhary, both 20, had travelled nearly 15 hours by train from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Deep appeared for the NEET examination in 2025 but chose not to take the re-examination after the paper leak. Ritick sat for both the 2025 and 2026 examinations. He scored 504 in the re-test but said he was still unable to secure admission to a government medical college.

“I’m going to keep trying. Jab tak himmat hai, tab tak attempt karenge hum,” Ritick said. He was among those injured during Monday’s lathi charge.

By 4 a.m., people were still arriving.

Adreeta, however, was still at the barricades.Hours after beginning her shift, she continued greeting protesters. As two Delhi Police officers headed out, another volunteer called after them, “Modi ji ko humara aashirwaad dena.”