New Delhi | The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday made it clear it will hold talks with the government only at a neutral venue as the student protests over the paper leak issue spread to several states including Bihar, where police used tear gas shells, water cannons and batons to prevent a march to the governor's house.
Jantar Mantar, the epicentre of the protests that began on June 20 demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the NEET question paper leak and other examination irregularities, saw the CJP, led by its founder Abhijeet Dipke, continuing with its agitation and joined by hundreds of people, mostly students.
The sit-in witnessed a steady stream of new arrivals. Many walked into the protest site with backpacks, rolled-up banners and small bags. Some sat on the road listening to speeches from the stage, while others gathered near police barricades, raising slogans and holding placards.
Police said there was stone-pelting by some protesters at Jantar Mantar in the evening in which assistant commissioner Jai Prakash sustained a forehead injury.
The day also saw several appeals being made to activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has become the face of the agitation, to end his indefinite hunger strike.
He said he would do so only if the government gives an unequivocal assurance that no punitive or retaliatory action would be taken against students and youth who participated in the protests.
The CJP appealed to him to end his hunger strike, saying his sacrifice has inspired students across the country. It also assured him that the agitation would continue until its demands were met.
A delegation of MPs, including Vivek Tankha (Cong), Sagarika Ghose (TMC) and John Brittas (CPI-M), met Wangchuk and his wife Gitanjali J Angmo at the hospital in Gurugram and urged him to end his fast, saying the struggle for a fair and transparent examination system had become a national cause.
Addressing a press briefing at the protest site, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said police informed them this morning that Union minister JP Nadda wanted to hold discussions and invited them to his residence.
"We refused to go to anyone's house or office. The people's court is here. Ministers should come among the people. If they want to talk, the talks should be held at Jantar Mantar," he said.
Das, however, said the CJP remained open to dialogue and was willing to consider a neutral venue near the protest site if there were security concerns.
"We are educated people. If there are security concerns at Jantar Mantar, we can meet at a neutral place nearby. We have always said we are ready for talks. It would be good if the issue is resolved through dialogue," he said.
"We will also seek a sovereign guarantee from the government that no fresh FIRs are filed or punitive action is taken against any peaceful protester associated with this movement," he said.
A senior government functionary later said Pradhan is likely to remain in the Cabinet as the top hierarchy of the government is convinced that he cannot be blamed for the leak of the examination papers. The functionary also said the government is ready for serious engagement with the protesters and suggested that no one should be rigid about the "venue" of the meeting as insisted by the CJP. According to Das, the agitation has spread beyond Delhi, with demonstrations taking place in several parts of the country, including Bihar, Goa, Mumbai and Rajasthan, and described it as an "organic" nationwide movement.
Dipke put out a post on X, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence.
"It's Day 25 of Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike. The PM is yet to break his silence," Dipke wrote.
"Politics is not just about doing election rallies and winning elections. It's about being accountable and answerable to people," he said, asking why the prime minister had not reached out to Wangchuk, why police had acted "so brutally" against protesting students and why Pradhan continued in office despite the controversy surrounding alleged examination irregularities.
Seventeen metro stations were temporarily shut during the day due to security reasons, leaving hundreds of office-goers, students and other commuters stranded for hours, forcing many to change routes midway, exit at unfamiliar stations and scramble for alternative transport during the morning rush. These were opened in the evening.
Wangchuk joined the CJP-led agitation at Jantar Mantar on June 28 and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of the students demands. He was shifted from Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital following a Delhi High Court order and has continued his fast from there.
In Bihar, police said protesters in Patna during their Lok Bhavan march moved dangerously close to vital installations, prompting the administration to order sealing of the assembly premises, situated a few hundred metres away.
The incident left members of both houses of the legislature who were attending the Monsoon session, locked inside.
Trouble was brewing since 11 am soon after a large number of student activists, expressing solidarity with the CJP's stir in the national capital, gathered at the historic Gandhi Maidan.
A massive traffic jam was seen at Dak Bungalow crossing, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the state capital, where the police had put up barricades to thwart the onward march, and fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathi charge when the students refused to withdraw.
The agitators were finally stopped a couple of hundred metres away from the Lok Bhawan, which is situated right across the street from the chief minister's residence.
Protests also escalated across Tamil Nadu, with various organisations demanding the abolition of NEET and the immediate resignation of Pradhan.
Members of Students' Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged an agitation in Coimbatore to express solidarity with students protesting in New Delhi.
Two pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters came up for hearing in the Delhi High Court, which sought responses from the Centre and the city police. It also directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records in relation to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography and gave them four weeks to file their counter affidavits.
The matter also came up in the Supreme Court which declined a request for urgent listing of a plea challenging the police action against the students.
New Delhi | A nursing student carried a first-aid pouch. A delivery rider came after finishing work. A labourer took a train to cross miles. By the end of July 20, they were among the protesters being treated for fractures, bruises and pellet injuries.
At least 60 participants were injured on Monday -- according to Delhi Police -- as protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar, responding to the call given for a march to Parliament by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The scheduled march was part of the ongoing agitation over exam irregularities and for the demand of Union education minister's resignation.
According to sources, 186 injured were brought to RML Emergency till 8 am on Tuesday. Eighty-nine of them were policemen.
Out of the total wounded, 96 were referred to the surgery department for different kinds of treatment such as plasters and stitches.
Nagma Parveen, 19, had come from Aligarh with a small first-aid pouch. A nursing student, she had volunteered to help other protesters if they were injured. Instead, she ended up needing medical attention herself after she was pushed into the barricades and fell to the ground, left with a fractured foot.
For 22-year-old Rakesh Kumar, the day began with a delivery shift.
The Ghaziabad resident had finished an early-morning food delivery round before joining the march. He said his younger brother, 18, was preparing to appear for NEET next year, and he had come to stand with students who had lost their lives and with those who, like his brother, were still preparing for the exam.
He was beaten during the lathi charge after falling to the ground, he said. When an elderly protester stumbled, Kumar said he turned to help him. A blow landed on his left shoulder. It was only later that he noticed a deep puncture wound near his collarbone.
"At first, I thought someone had hit me with a stick. When my shirt got wet, I looked down and saw blood," he said, alleging that the lathi had nails on it.
Another protester, Talha, 28, travelled from Patna to Delhi on Friday last week. A day later, activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly taken to Safdarjung Hospital by police.
He said he came to the sit-in at Jantar Mantar over unemployment and inflation. He alleged that police beat him during Monday's protest and fractured his right leg.
"My friend Ankit and I came here by train. Only my mother knew I was here. She was already sceptical after Saturday's incident, but after she saw videos of the protest, she has been constantly calling me. What do I tell her? What happened during the protest wasn't right. Don't policemen also have families?" he said.
For 25-year-old Sheikh Irfad Mansoori, the injury was far more severe. The Gurugram resident had joined the protest at Connaught Place when he was allegedly hit by pellets fired by an RPF personnel, his friend Aniket said.
Mansoori was brought to Lady Hardinge Hospital around 5 pm on Monday and underwent surgery on Tuesday after sustaining seven pellet injuries to his face.
"The pellets struck his nose, forehead, both eyes and cheeks. He was conscious when we brought him to the hospital yesterday. He is currently under anaesthesia," he said, adding that Mansoori's family, which is from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, was unaware of the gravity of his injuries.
While the Delhi Police on Tuesday rejected the claims of use of pellet guns by its personnel against protesters during the march, there was no information available so far about whether the RPF personnel used pellet guns on the day.
At the RML Hospital, 21-year-old Sakshi is recovering from injuries sustained in a stampede-like situation near Jantar Mantar and Tolstoy Marg.
The Chhattarpur Extension resident suffered injuries to her face, chest and neck and was admitted to the ICU.
On Wednesday, hospital authorities said she had been taken off ventilator support. She was conscious, breathing on her own and responding appropriately to commands. Her MRI scans of the brain and spine were normal, they said.
She had come to the protest with her cousin, who also sustained a leg injury.
A 20-year-old Delhi University student, who was also a CJP volunteer, wearing the organisation's neon yellow shirt, suffered a hairline fracture in her hand and multiple bruises.
She said the fact that the alleged assault was by male police officers made the experience more traumatic.
New Delhi | A steady supply of pizzas, biryani, langar, fruits and even golgappas have turned into protest essentials at the Jantar Mantar, where volunteers from different walks of life have joined hands to keep hundreds of students participating in the ongoing CJP protest fed and hydrated.
As the protest demanding accountability over the NEET paper ‘leak’ and resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan continued, Jantar Mantar has transformed into a community kitchen, with office-goers, elderly citizens, children and community groups standing shoulder to shoulder, serving meals, snacks and refreshments to the agitators.
The menu also reflects the preferences of the largely young crowd – pizzas, biryani, chips, biscuits, fruit juices and cold drinks – while local vendors are offering golgappas and dahi bhallas to the protesters – all free of cost.
Many food packets also carried portable hand fans to help the protesters keep cool amid the humid weather.
The Sikh community, including Nihang Sikhs, who had joined the protest on Tuesday, organised a langar that continued through Wednesday, serving fresh meals to anyone walking in.
Many children were spotted distributing water bottles, while the elderly volunteers handed out bananas and seasonal fruits to the gathering.
Ravi Maurya, an employee with a multinational company in Delhi who took leave from work to volunteer, said support was arriving from across the country and even overseas.
“People from different states are sending food and drinking water. We are also receiving contributions from Indians living abroad. Everyone wants to help the students in whatever way they can,” Maurya said.
The volunteers started placing hand fans inside food packets after noticing students sitting for hours in the scorching heat, he said.
“It may be a small gesture, but we felt every packet should carry something that can provide a little comfort,” Maurya added.
Among those distributing snacks was Isha, a NEET aspirant who had dropped a year and come to the protest site to volunteer with her cousin.
“We understand the uncertainty faced by the students. We wanted to contribute in whatever way we could, and bringing snacks felt like the simplest way to support them,” Isha said, adding that she and her cousin saved their pocket money to purchase the snacks.
A walk through the protest site also revealed small moments of camaraderie.
A student eating biscuits offered one to a fellow protester sitting beside him. When she declined, he smiled and said, “You have one, I will have one. This way we will finish the packet together.”
An elderly woman distributing fruits said she saw the students as her own children.
“I wanted to make sure they eat something healthy. If they are sitting here for hours, the least we can do is look after them,” she said.
Amit, a college student distributing water bottles, said that strangers had come together with a common purpose.
“It is very hot, and many students have been here since morning. If giving someone a bottle of water helps them stay here a little longer, that is enough for me,” Amit said.
The sit-in at the Jantar Mantar has been continuing after Monday's police crackdown on the CJP-led ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, when police lathi-charged and tear-gassed the protesters as they attempted to march towards Parliament on the first day of the Monsoon Session.
And as chants demanding action against alleged examination irregularities echo across the protest venue, the volunteers are quietly moving through the crowd with trays, cartons and meal packets, proving that food had become one of the strongest expressions of solidarity.