Jantar Mantar morphs into a vibrant community space as soon as the searing sun sets, with crowds flocking to the venue to support the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest demanding education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET-UG paper leak and other exam lapses.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose indefinite fast entered its eighth day on Sunday, occupies the centrestage around which young men and women stand in groups. He has lost around 6kg since beginning the fast.
Close to the main stage, a tent houses six All India Students’ Association (AISA) members who are also fasting with Wangchuk. Several individuals without any organisational affiliation have joined the hunger strike, reflecting the movement’s broad public support.
Right across the tent is an open library run by the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and an adjoining Students’ Federation of India (SFI) stall that sells posters and bookmarks made by students.
Next to these stalls, volunteers were seen distributing food and drinking water to visitors. A Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) camp nearby keeps the momentum alive by organising a mock funeral of the education system or filing symbolic charge-sheets against Pradhan.
The venue is dotted with posters and paintings emblazoned with slogans demanding Pradhan’s exit.
People are seen forming huddles to discuss paper
leaks and other exam-related irregularities.
As protest leaders take turns at the microphone, visitors gather around the stage to listen with rapt attention or record the speech on their mobiles.
Some distance away, a throng of people holding guitars, daflis and other musical instruments burst into revolutionary songs targeted at the current regime.
Several visitors come with fruits, chocolates, flowers and drinking water to distribute them among the protesters and volunteers.
Papori, Chandana and Alok, who gave only their first names, visited the venue for the first time on Saturday, driven by social media posts that keep popping up in their feed.
“We have been planning to come with food to distribute at the protest site,” Papori, a working professional, says, stressing that middle-class families have been the worst hit by the exam fiasco.
Vaishali Sahu, who has been coming to the venue since June 20, has made it her second home. She has spent a few nights here, too. She says music, which was earlier played at regular intervals, had been cut down since Wangchuk began his fast.
CJP spokesperson Ratna Singh says activities such as singing, poem recitation and speeches are not held around the main stage after 8.30pm to allow Wangchuk and other protesters to take proper rest.
Sahu, an NGO worker, and Manpreet Kaur, employed with a travel company, have been coming to the site every evening for the past fortnight.
“Jantar Mantar has become my second home as the government has left no option,” Sahu says, adding that accountability and education reforms are necessary.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has urged people to pick up waste and put it in the dustbin.
Dinner starts around 8pm, with people queuing up to collect their food. “It is curry-chawal today (Saturday). My favourite,” a protester says.
As the night progresses, the crowd becomes thinner. Those who choose to stay back start looking for a place to sleep. Some, however, plan to stay awake to discuss hot-button issues with fellow protesters.
At daybreak, people are served tea and fruits. Some, like Wangchuk, perform yoga and light exercises to gear up for another day.