‘Gen Z has courage’: Parents rally behind students at Jantar Mantar

Around noon, the protest site hummed with a mix of youthful energy and elderly wisdom. While the protest has been led largely by GenZ, roughly 1,000 people in the gathering were from an older generation —-  parents, professionals, retired personnel and families who had come from across the country to stand with the young protesters. Some stood beside their children and others stood in solidarity with a generation they said had found the courage to challenge the government. The site had taken on the character of a self-organised community.

Pradeep Tyagi, 70, and his wife, Anita Tyagi, 66, who live in the Capital, could not believe when the news broke that Dharmendra Pradhan had resigned as the Union Education Minister — a key demand of the CJP protest.  “Something we thought impossible had happened. So we rushed here… at Jantar Mantar. I was a Delhi University student, so I have gotten beaten with lathis many times during my days. Now it’s our children’s turn to fight for their children’s future, and we are there to support them,” said Anita. She added that her son is an engineer, who has been coming to the protest for many days.

Paramjeet, 46, who runs a car mechanic shop in Karol Bagh, came to Jantar Mantar with his wife, Parmeet, and their two daughters, aged 12 and 19. They walked in a queue — the mother in a golden suit with a phone in her hand recording everything, leading; the father a few steps behind, his blue turban visible above the crowd; their daughters holding tightly to their mother’s hands. They pause at every cluster of activity,  taking it all in — people making posters, playing UNO board game, and raising slogans.

“Our daughters were pretty excited to join,” Paramjeet said, adding, “It’s high time people wake up. The daughters looked on shyly, taking in the chaos unfolding around them.

A few metres away, two retired Air Force personnel from Ghaziabad stood among the students. “I came here for these students. They are like my children,” said one of them. “If they can compel (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi to release a video at 12 in the night… Inn Gen-Z ke bacchon mein dum toh hein. (These Gen-Z children have courage).”

For Neeta, 45, a scientist from Gurgaon, the young protesters served as a stark reminder of “the failures of her own generation”. She had been at the protest on June 20, when she said she was subjected to tear gas, and had returned on Saturday. “Our generation did nothing. We just completed an MBA and minted money. This generation has a brain of its own,” she said.

What struck her most, she said, was the “positive vibe” at the protest site. “From demonetisation to Ram Mandir chanda chori to inflation, every important issue is being raised here,” she said.

Priyank, a surgeon in his 40s, said, “My daughter, a medical student in Rishikesh, was protesting there, while I am here. She was lucky she made it to a medical college before the NEET paper leak.”  He further added that the movement had broken what he saw as a “long-standing fear” of the government among the people. “This government has silenced people for quite a long time now. But the fear of the government is gone,” he said.

A little further away, near the medical camp, Sushil, 73, who travelled from Bengaluru, said, “I feel proud of this generation. Democracy is still alive.”