Crowd of people at CJP protest site before Parliament march
Thousands of people streamed through both entrances to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest site at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi on Sunday (July 19, 2026) afternoon. With thousands of people inside the protest zone, it was almost impossible to walk through without bumping into another person.
The crowd saw a dramatic increase compared to the initial days of the protest, which began on June 20.
People who were at the site for many days said there was a significant increase in the crowd after police forcibly removed activist Sonam Wangchuk from the protest site on Saturday (July 18, 2026) morning.
At any given moment there was a line of people at both entrances trying to enter the protest site. Once inside, in several places, protesters doubled as crowd managers, while some volunteers cheered on other people and other volunteers sprayed water from hand-held sprayers as people passed through the queues.
Standing next to a table full of medicines and masks, Abhishek Saha, an Ayurvedic doctor from Rohini in north Delhi, was busy handing out ORS packets, tablets and plasters to people who came in at regular intervals with various problems.
“It was started by another doctor who was from Maharashtra and now I am taking care of it. People donated all the medicines,” Saha said, adding that he was expressing his solidarity for a better education system.
The table acts as a makeshift clinic for people attending the protest and many people who have been living there for many days.
There was heavy deployment of Rapido Action Force, Nagaland Armed Force and Delhi Police personnel. At least 10-11 buses were seen near both entry points. Crossing several layers of barricades, the protesters found themselves in a sea of people with camps of AISA, SFI and other student organizations where the hunger striking students rested amid the heat and humidity. Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) volunteers fanned the protesters who were sitting and listening to the leader on the dias. Several groups sang songs and held up banners demanding the resignation of the education minister.
Pawan Kumar (28) from Uttar Pradesh and Shambu Dayal Meena (31) from Rajasthan said they met at the protest site and had been fasting for the past six days.
“There is a lot of anger against the current government. It does not respect the constitution,” said Mr Meena, a tribal. “When the CJI said a cockroach, it was bad because I felt like he was talking about me. I was unemployed in the past,” he said.
32-year-old Janeshwar, who was sitting next to them, said referring to the trio: “A Dalit, a tribal and an OBC man are sitting here protesting together. Why? Because the government has closed thousands of schools and our children are suffering. Not the children of the rich.”
Ravi, a student from Rai Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, said his brother had appeared for NEET this year. “Students work hard and give their all to the government exams only to realize that they have been cheated. I can’t even imagine the state of parents who have lost their children to these scams,” he said.
“I am happy that so many people have turned up today,” said Vinod Kumar Mehra, 60, a social worker from Gurgaon. “For young people who want to change the country, hunger strike is the only way to express their anger, and that’s what they’re doing,” he said.
People came not only to demand the resignation of the Union Education Minister. “It is a platform for us to express our dissatisfaction with the government,” said Priya (name changed), an IT professional from Gurgaon.
“From something as basic as waterlogged conditions during the monsoon to embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, how much and for how long do we have to suffer?” she added.
Published – 20 Jul 2026 02:23 IST