Jantar Mantar protest highlights: Massive crowd, RAF at Jantar Mantar for 'Reservation Hatao' protest; several detained

BJP described the Congress as a “party of anarchy” following Rahul Gandhi’s protest at the Parliament Street police station in Delhi on Friday, a short distance away from the ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’s stir at Jantar Mantar, over the registration of an FIR concerning the alleged use of a pellet gun during the CJP-led protest. The ruling party also alleged that Rahul was staging the sit-in to divert attention after the Congress realised that its stand on Vande Mataram was wrong.

Meanwhile, not far away from the ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, sat on a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police at Delhi’s Parliament Street Police Station, protesting an alleged refusal to register an FIR on a complaint by a student who the Congress said suffered pellet-gun injuries during last month’s protests demanding education reforms.

Protesters at Jantar Mantar are also demanding a rollback of UGC rules, which have been stayed by the Supreme Court.

The platform rapidly gained traction by adopting the protest-mobilisation tactics of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and has now called for a physical protest against the reservation system on August 21.

The ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’:
Advocates for academic admissions and public employment to be determined solely by merit and talent rather than caste quotas.

Proposes ending the requirement to declare or record caste details on public forms, job applications, and educational processes under a "One Nation, One Identity" framework.

Suggests that government assistance or affirmative action should instead be based purely on economic status, disability, orphan status, or being a child of a martyr, regardless of caste or religion.

‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ is a viral, digital campaign and social media movement in India advocating for the abolition or major reform of the caste-based reservation system in government jobs and educational institutions.

“Permission was sought a month ago for Jantar Mantar. But on the day of the protest, at 12 noon suddenly the venue was changed to Ramleela Maidan and the number fixed at 500. You're not changing the place, your attempt is to somehow limit the voice,” RHA wrote on X.