New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party-led protest at Jantar Mantar and the subsequent police crackdown on student protesters on 20 July has dominated social media for the past few days. However, it’s not just videos and photos by protesters that are creating a visual record of the sit-in. Artists are capturing the moment and the mood through comics, sketches, and cartoons.
The dominant theme across the artwork coming out of the CJP protest is a face-off between students and the State. Various graphics show a child facing police batons, shields, and guns. The artists are clarifying what is at stake: the nation’s future.
Here is a list of artworks surrounding the protests that have taken over Instagram:
1. We Deserve Better
The widely shared piece shows a heavily armoured police officer raising a baton against an unarmed child. Dressed in a school uniform, carrying a schoolbag, and holding a pair of roses, the child looks up resolutely at his attacker, bleeding from a wound on his head. It was posted Monday on Instagram by artist Prasad Bhat, who sells his creations through the online store Graphicurry.
“When we protest peacefully we deserve better @cockroachjantaparty keep marching,” read the caption.
2. Tale of Two Uniforms
The sketch showed a schoolgirl raising the Constitution in the face of a raised baton. It was posted on Instagram by actor Preeti Panigrahi, who starred in Girls Will Be Girls (2024) and Night Queen (2024). Panigrahi frequently makes sketches around sexuality and women’s agency.
3. How About Now?
The comic strip by cartoonist Tanika Godbole tackles a pertinent question: what turns a peaceful protest violent? Godbole’s comics range from satire on the media ecosystem to musings on life and friendship.
“Every good thing we have today exists because someone protested for it. Nothing but respect for all who showed up today,” Godbole wrote in the caption.
4. Kumbhakarna
Illustrator Harsha drew the sleeping government as mammoth Kumbhakarna, surrounded by tiny protesters trying to wake it up. They often upload art around religious themes, with graphics of Hindu deities making up a prominent section of their posts.
5. Thank You, Sir
Cartoonist Niraj Sabnis drew a lone, bleeding hand holding a rose among raised batons and police shields. “Thank you, sir,” read the text on the image. The cartoonist has also posted about the Ken-Betwa protest.
“This rose is for every run-of-the-mill oppressive regime,” Sabnis wrote in Marathi in the caption.
6. World’s Largest Democracy?
Brand designer and illustrator Nitin Ghosh posted a reel Sunday showing a man in uniform digging a grave with the words, “World’s largest democracy?!” Two men stand behind him, holding a struggling body in white cloth. Ghosh only used two emojis in the caption, tagging CJP and Sonam Wangchuk.
7. Throne Out
Illustrator and animator Allen Shaw painted an angry young man throwing out a chair with a disproportionately small, bearded man tightly clutching to it.
“Hope is a small word with a very long life,” Shaw wrote in the caption. The artist has posted several graphics on the CJP movement, some showing cockroaches playing guitars, others questioning the silence of celebrities.
8. Of the People, by the People, for the People
The sombre sketch by Gayatri Panda showed students injured, bleeding, and shell-shocked. Panda is new to Instagram, and has only posted one other sketch.
“Apparently the youth is the future, and then this is how the future is treated, it’s not hard to predict what’s coming next,” reads the caption.
9. Sab Kuch Yaad Rakha Jayega
Artist Sameena Shaik turned the infamous moment of a police officer tripping up a running protester into a reel. She overlaid graphics onto the video footage with the lyrics of Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Care About Us’.
“As a Pakistani, watching this truly breaks my heart. Borders may separate us, but pain doesn’t,” read the most liked comment.
10. Ellipsis
Animation and comic artist Gautam painted a dramatic rendition of the student vs State image. In the graphic, a schoolboy holds up the Constitution as his defence against an army of guns pointed at him. The artist only put an ellipsis as the caption.
Also read: Chai, mattresses & first-aid—Delhi gurdwaras open doors to CJP supporters after police action