‘Future is at stake’: Thousands back in Central Delhi

A day after they were struck with batons and hit with tear gas by the Delhi Police as they attempted to march to the Parliament, thousands of undeterred protesters thronged to Jantar Mantar protest site and the arterial roads around it

A day after they were struck with batons and hit with tear gas by the Delhi Police as they attempted to march to the Parliament, thousands of undeterred protesters thronged to Jantar Mantar protest site and the arterial roads around it. By 8 pm on Tuesday, Jantar Mantar was bursting at its seams, Tolstoy Marg was full of protesters raising slogans demanding resignation of the Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and a part of Sansad Marg was filled with young protesters.

Crowds of supporters gather and rejoin the ongoing protest. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

By evening, security arrangements had been beefed up in the area and Delhi Police had added three layers of barricades on Sansad Marg, near Parliament Street police station. Every few minutes, police took to speakers to warn protesters to maintain law and order and remain in the designated protest area.

Volunteers assigned by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is at the centre of this movement, made a human chain to deter protesters from spilling onto the streets any further. The air reverberated with slogans of “Dilli Police Murdabad” and “We want justice.”

Multiple people could be seen wearing bandages and several said they had come back to the site after being released by police.

“The police detained me and 10 other people at around 5.30 pm on Monday from Tolstoy Marg, and took us to Mandir Marg station at 6.30 pm. While they were very polite with us, they made a case against us under sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS, without telling us. I had to pay a ₹5,000 release bond, and was released only at 5:00 pm today,” said Sameer (22), a student at the School of Open Learning.

At Jantar Mantar, many said they had come after watching videos of violence against the protesters. They showed up with cartons of water, aerated drinks, kadhi-chawal, chips, and biscuits.

Two friends came from south Delhi’s East of Kailash. One told HT, “Since the stage was dismantled by police personnel on Monday and the arrangements must have been ruined, we decided to do our bit and get what we could. So, we got two cartons of chilled Lahori Jeera. It’s not enough, but it’s something.”

Usman, 23, a resident of Chawdi Bazar, was also one of them. “We saw videos of young people, including girls, being beaten up. People from my neighbourhood asked me to take some food here so neighbours pitched in with home cooked food – roti, sabzi, dal. So I have brought that for whoever would like to eat. People have been here for hours, days. This is our way of expressing solidarity.”

Shivam, 20, a resident of Faridabad who is pursuing a diploma in computer science, said, “My brother and I have brought samosas with us from Faridabad. We were protesting peacefully yesterday. The way the government has dealt with children will only fuel more resentment.”

Every few hours, delivery executives stopped to deliver food ordered by strangers for anyone hungry at the protest site. Around 7.30 pm, HT met a delivery executive who was on a video call with the customer who had ordered kilos of biryani.

Ravi Kumar who came from a restaurant in Greater Kailash told HT. “Someone named Anil ordered 25 veg thalis and told me to drop it near the protest venue. They just wanted to help the students. This is my second order delivery here.”

By 10pm, appeals were being made from the stage for a stop to online orders.

“People are moved by the protest and everything that happened on Monday. Even if they can’t be here, they are showing their support through such ways,” said a 31-year-old protester who asked not to be named.

Among those who met protesters at Jantar Mantar in the daytime were former Delhi chief minister Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal who arrived with senior leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj, and NCP (SCP) leaders Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule.

Speaking to the crowd at the protest, Kejriwal condemned the police’s violence against the protesters. “These children are the future of the country. Narendra Modi’s government cannot handle one NEET paper, how can they run the country? Not just Dharmendra Pradhan, but even Modi should resign.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was also present at the site. “One resignation will not do. The whole system needs to be changed,” he told the crowd, adding, “The whole of Maharashtra stands with you...one nation, one emotion. We will all fight with you till the end.

The numbers at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday grew slowly. At 6 am, only a handful of supporters were scattered across the protest venue as light rain dampened the ground. By 8 am, there was a slight shift in the atmosphere after CJP founder Abhijit Dipke and spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka arrived, meeting students and volunteers before making their way to the partially damaged platform, now partially covered by a yellow plastic sheet to shield it from the rain.

Tuesday morning was spent rearranging all that was broken — bamboo poles were re-erected, a speaker arranged, chairs fixed and wiped clean. By noon, Jantar Mantar had transformed once again into a bustling protest venue. Hundreds of supporters packed the narrow stretch, raising slogans against the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, demanding accountability and calling for the resignation of Pradhan.

Also present at the protest —another day in a row — were children. Three friends, all aged 15 years old, from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, quietly navigated their way through the city in a bus, by metro and then by foot to get to Jantar Mantar. “Our parents don’t know we are here. If we had sought permission, they wouldn’t have allowed us to come here. They are scared after what they saw yesterday — children being beaten up by police. But we had to come. It’s our future that’s at stake,” said one of them, as they moved through the exit queue inside the protest site, drenched in rain.

Through the day, the site buzzed with activity as student groups staged nukkad naataks, volunteers livestreamed speeches and interactions through continuous social media vlogs, while chants reverberated through the barricaded area.

“We are going to continue our protest till the government comes here to meet us and agree with our demands. We will not start another march yet but are working out a strategy. We just want our supporters to show up here in large numbers,” Dipke told HT.

Despite the calmer atmosphere, Monday’s violence remained the dominant topic of conversation. Students repeatedly recounted scenes of stone-pelting, baton charges and panic that unfolded during the march towards Parliament.

Adding to the charged atmosphere, every time a police team entered the protest site, supporters erupted into applause and cheers. The clapping was accompanied by sarcastic slogans directed at the officers, with protesters saying it was their way of mocking what they described as the police’s atrocity during Monday’s clashes.

“We came here to demand justice over an examination that decides our future, but instead we were treated like criminals. Those responsible for the paper leak should be arrested, the examination process must become transparent and the education minister should resign. Instead, students were beaten for raising legitimate questions,” said Ananya, a second-year student from Delhi University.

Another protester, Rohit, an engineering aspirant from Uttar Pradesh, said many students who had travelled long distances were unwilling to leave despite the previous day’s violence.

“The government has not answered a single question on the leak, but the police had plenty of answers in the form of force. We are angry because nobody has taken responsibility. We want a time-bound investigation, action against those behind the leak and assurance that students will not be lathi-charged for protesting peacefully,” he said.

Those who were at Monday’s protest stated that the previous day’s experience had only made them more determined to continue protesting. “Yesterday out of nowhere the police hit my friends and I with laathis, and we saw a woman in front of us being beaten multiple times. The police were aiming at our legs to make us fall. This protest is not just about education anymore, it is about all the institutions in our country not functioning properly,” said Chiranshi (20), a student at the protest.

Siddharth (22), another student who had been detained, stated that he had been sleeping at the protest site for the past three days. “It is necessary for us to be here because the education system determines the country’s future, and it is not functioning well currently. I was extremely scared when I was getting detained yesterday, but I will continue to stay here. The police also motivated us in the station, and told us that what we are doing is right,” he said.

Rupesh, a 26-year-old UPSC aspirant who was also present at the protest, stated that he had not been present at Monday’s protest or any of the earlier ones. “I am here today because when I saw how the protestors had been treated yesterday, I felt that I had to go to the ground and see for myself what was happening. Now that I am here, I feel that this entire movement is necessary for students. I don’t understand why the government isn’t listening to the students asking for their rights. I will keep coming here as long as the protest continues.”