New Delhi: The tarpaulin tents, mattresses and banners that protesters took weeks to set up at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar lay in tatters on Monday after clashes between Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protesters and the Delhi Police.
As the demonstrators returned to the protest site hours after thousands marched towards Parliament, clashing with police, facing lathicharge and tear gas, the main stage where the hunger strike began had been torn apart.
Blue and yellow tarpaulin sheets, twisted metal frames, and their belongings lay scattered across the area in the heart of the city, where CJP supporters had been camping for days, demanding the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over exam leaks. They are also demanding reforms in the education system.
For some of the protesters who came from outside Delhi, these camps were their safe spaces where they stayed all day.
Rajesh Pandey, a 35-year-old from Gurugram, said they built the tents to beat the sun and rain. “But it took the police a minute to break it all down using sticks. Was no thought given behind the fact that this is where protesters sleep? Day in and night?” he told ThePrint.
“Everything the students and protesters bought from their home was destroyed. How are we to come to terms with this? Not only were the protesters beaten up, but now they are struggling to find their belongings.”
He claimed the mattress was trampled along with the pillows.
The protesters said they spent the night rebuilding their tents as they geared up to continue their protest.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka took to X to say they needed medical kits with Band-Aids, Dettol, Paracetamol and painkillers as a lot of “protesters have been brutally beaten up by police”. He added that they also required portable mics, brooms and portable torches because there was no light in the area.
Ranka added, “The protests will continue at Jantar Mantar, until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.”
‘Tomorrow is another day’
The torn white curtain hanging on the stage where the hunger strike began remains as a reminder for them of what unfolded on Monday.
As the protesters began rebuilding the makeshift camp where they had been living for days, many hunted for their scattered belongings at 1 am amid pouring rain, unfazed by the mud and dirt.
As the rain continued, protesters sat under half-rebuilt tents. Some ate their food wrapped in newspapers, others slept on the road while many s gathered around the stage chanting slogans.
“Vande Mataram,” they said.
At another camp, the protesters held onto the white metal poles to secure them into the ground.
“It is raining heavily, and none of us are going to go back home. So, we will build these temporary solutions so we can sleep for the time being,” said a protester. “Tomorrow is a new day, and we are ready for it.”
Protesters used flashlights to find safe spaces to sit.
“I came back at 3 pm, and everything was broken. All our posters that we made with our hands were broken. We set this up with the idea that we are fighting a good fight. Now, we will reattempt the protest,” said Akash, a 27-year-old from Delhi, as he cleaned up mattresses and pillows.
Sagar Yadav, a 17-year-old NEET aspirant from Jhansi, who said he remains frustrated over the medical entrance exam paper leak, looked visibly tired as he held on to bamboo poles to rebuild a tent.
“We tried to be resilient and honest. But look what they did to us? They broke our homes?”
A temporary doctor’s camp at the site was also destroyed on Monday. A doctor at the site said he was disturbed after he saw all the medicines on the floor.
“My two associates and I sat down and set up the table. We feel let down. We are looking for our medicines that the protesters need urgently. Nobody else is coming for their help,” he said.
“A lot of people came forward to help as well. They brought water bottles, bananas, food, first aid kits, among other items, to help ensure the protesters’ safety,” the doctor added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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