CJP Protest Intensified, Thousands Regrouped at Jantar Mantar as Reports of Police Brutalities Surfaced

Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, July 21: Even as the Congress launched a protest dharna in front of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi to pile on the pressure on the Center in the wake of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement protesting against paper leaks, thousands of people and students have regrouped at the Jantar Mantar on Tuesday intensifying the protest as reports of alleged police brutalities on students and marchers to Parliament House on Monday have started coming out.

As hundreds of students and supporters returned to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, a day after the police using force attempted to disrupt their Parliament march, saying the “use of force by police” had only strengthened their resolve to continue the agitation. There was a continuous stream of people coming to the protest site through both the entry points. Despite rain, there are crowds outside the entry points.

Encouraging the young protesters against being disheartened by the police brutalities, CJP founder leader Abhijeet Dipke, who is also on indefinite fast, said, “They want you to lose hope. We cannot lose hope. Yesterday was just the first such call we gave.”

Reports said more than 105 student marchers were injured in the police lathi-charge, many with serious bleeding injuries, were being treated at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. A student, aged 25, resident of Ghitorni is admitted at LHMC and undergoing treatment for pellet injuries. At least 38 of the injured were taken to the Lady Hardinge Medical College and around 65 to the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, said sources, with fractures, swelling due to tear gas, and head and eye injuries.

Students with minor injuries have been discharged from the hospital. Another protester with an eye injury (also from pellets) has been shifted to AIIMS, according to hospital sources. A young woman injured in police action during CJP protest is on ventilator in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

While many of the injured were allowed to go home after first aid, about a dozen of more seriously injured students were admitted in the hospital for further treatment. In addition, dozens of other student protesters are also reported to be detained in different police stations.

Delhi Police have registered four FIRs so far and is in the process of filing two more in connection with violence, vandalism and other incidents during the “Chalo Sansad” march organized by the CJP and farmers’ groups on Monday, sources said on Tuesday.

The cases were registered at Parliament Street, Connaught Place and other police stations, and invoke multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Arms Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, they said.

One FIR was lodged in connection with the violence and stone-pelting near Regal Cinema at Connaught Place, while separate cases relate to unlawful assembly, unauthorized flying of a drone during the Parliament session and an alleged conspiracy behind the violence, a police source said. Two more FIRs are being prepared in connection with assault, taking the law into one’s own hands and other related offences, he said.

“An attack on students is an attack on every Indian family. PM Modi believes he can get away without answers, without consequences. He cannot. Not this time. I ask every patriotic Indian who believes our students deserve justice – join us in to wear in front of the Prime Minister’s residence. The voice of India’s students will not be ignored,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said in a post.

The Delhi Police, on the other hand, accused the protesters of displaying “unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour” and said they attacked personnel with stones, vandalised police vehicles and resorted to “large-scale violence.” The force said 118 police personnel were injured, including senior officers.

CJP representatives held two meetings with JP Nadda on Monday and the Health Minister also visited Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and Lady Harding Hospital on Tuesday to meet protesters injured in Monday’s march. The government has maintained it was willing to engage with the protesters and “discuss their demands at an appropriate forum” but would not tolerate violence.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi also spoke about the NEET paper leak and said preventing such incidents is a national responsibility. Mr Modi also said the government acted immediately after reports of the NEET paper leak emerged, leading to arrests and swift action against those involved.

“The PM called on NDA partners to remain united in supporting legislative business and appealed to opposition parties to work constructively in parliament, saying that while political differences may exist, all MPs have a shared responsibility to work for the country’s future and the welfare of its youth,” Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, describing what happened at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting.

During the CJP’s march to Parliament on Monday, the demonstrators, largely students and young people, were dispersed by police by lathi-charge and tear gas. The CJP, which has been demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET controversy and other alleged examination paper leaks, claimed several protesters were injured in the police action.

Delhi Police, however, defended its response, alleging that protesters turned violent, pelted stones at security personnel, vandalized police vehicles and engaged in large-scale violence.

As more people joined the CJP protest rally, the Police on Tuesday sealed Parliament Street as a security precaution, putting up barricades on both sides near Parliament Street Police Station and the DCP office to restrict the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. A heavy deployment of Delhi Police personnel and paramilitary forces was made in the area to maintain law and order. Parliament Street also serves as one of the main routes leading to Jantar Mantar, where protesters have been gathering.

The former Delhi chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal visited the Mandir Marg Police Station and said his party was coordinating efforts to assist protesters detained during the previous day’s demonstration. He said those in custody were receiving food and other basic necessities, while the party was trying to ascertain where they were being taken and produced before the courts.

Kejriwal said the AAP had also been helping trace missing students, claiming that one missing child had been located and released from Chhatrasal Stadium, while seven others were secured and released from Ashok Vihar. Describing the protesters as students and “the future of the nation,” he criticized the police action, alleging that several had suffered injuries, some of them serious. He added that many injured students were at Jantar Mantar, including some with plaster casts.

Mr Kejriwal, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) chief Sharad Pawar and MP Supriya Sule joined the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar expressing solidarity with the demonstrators and backing their demands over the NEET controversy and other alleged examination paper leaks.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi accused the BJP of suppressing student protests, calling the police action “BJP’s terrorism.” He alleged that the government was using force to silence young protesters demanding accountability.

A delegation of Left parliamentarians also visited Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to express solidarity with students protesting against alleged irregularities in the education sector and demanded that Union Home Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament on police action against students. The delegation included CPI-M Rajya Sabha MPs John Brittas, AA Rahim and V. Sivadasan, CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Sandosh Kumar, and CPI(M) Lok Sabha MPs Amra Ram and Su Venkatesan, among others.

Targeting the Center over its crackdown on protesters demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday said the ongoing agitation marked the beginning of a revolution, with “millions of cockroaches” taking a decisive step.

In an editorial published in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party accused Mr Modi of protecting “corrupt and incompetent” Ministers, alleging that he was “committing treason” and ruining the country. “That is why millions of ‘cockroaches’ are storming Parliament and demanding Modi’s resignation. This is the beginning of a revolution. Millions of cockroaches are taking a step towards revolution,” the editorial said.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said several officers in plain clothes were beating up protesters during the protests in Delhi on Monday. “No one could imagine that post-independence, the government could behave in such a way with people. Hitler had formed his private army, and yesterday we saw many people in plain clothes beating up protesters, just like Hitler,” Mr Yadav said. He said, “BJP government is unable to pressure its Ministers to resign because it knows that if they are pressured then they will reveal the secrets of this government.”

The Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said he respected the sentiments of students protesting over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, while stressing that he was not in favor of suppressing their voices and that dialogue was the best way forward.

Speaking about the CJP’s protest and its meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda, Mr Paswan said, “I respect the sentiments of the students. Obviously, there must have been outrage and worried regarding different issues that the students had to come onto the roads. At the same time, I am not in favor of suppressing the voice of the students.”

“Dialogue is a good medium. The way their delegation met JP Nadda ji yesterday, the government has always kept its door open to dialogue. Sometimes the outrage is so much that people come onto the roads. If limits are crossed and law and order is obstructed, then some stringent actions are taken. I do not support that,” he added. “I believe students and youth are the future of our country, and we should respect their sentiments, to which my government is committed,” Mr Paswan further said.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging excessive force by the Delhi Police during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march was mentioned before the Delhi High Court for urgent listing on Tuesday, The Court refused to entertain the request immediately, remarking, “Don’t drag the Court into all this. It will come up tomorrow,” the court said.