A day after Delhi Police baton-charged and fired tear gas on them as they tried to march towards Parliament, thousands of protesters gathered at the Jantar Mantar protest site and main roads around it. By 8 pm on Tuesday, Jantar Mantar was at its peak, Tolstoy Marg was filled with protesters demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and a part of Sansad Marg was filled with young protesters.
By evening, security was beefed up in the area and Delhi Police had put up three layers of barricades on Sansad Marg, near Sansad Marg police station. Every few minutes, the police would go over the speaker to warn the protesters to maintain law and order and stay in the designated protest area.
Volunteers appointed by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which is at the center of the movement, formed a human chain to prevent the protesters from spreading further into the streets. The air echoed with slogans of “Down with Delhi Police” and “We want justice”.
Many people could be seen wearing bandages and several said they had returned to the site after being released by police.
“The police detained me and 10 others from Tolstoy Marg around 5.30 pm on Monday evening, and took us to Mandir Marg station at 6.30 pm. Although they were very polite with us, without informing us, they filed a case against us under sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS. I had to pay.” ₹5,000 release bond, and was released only today at 5:00 pm,” said Sameer (22), a student of School of Open Learning.
Small groups of five and ten also arrived outside the Delhi Police headquarters in the evening, when it was announced on the day that some members would protest there. Although they later canceled the call, that did not stop people from waiting for a few minutes outside the police headquarters.
Many people at Jantar Mantar said that they had come after seeing videos of violence against protesters. They brought water, aerated drinks, curry-rice, cartons of chips and biscuits.
Two friends came from East of Kailash in South Delhi. One told HT, “Since the stage was broken into by police personnel on Monday and the arrangements would 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.”
23-year-old Usman, resident of Chavadi Bazar, was also one of them. “We saw videos of young people, including girls, being beaten. People in my neighborhood asked me to take some food here, so the neighbors brought home-cooked food – roti, sabzi, dal. So whoever wants to eat, I brought it for them. People have been here for hours, days. This is our way of expressing solidarity.”
Shivam, a 20-year-old Faridabad resident pursuing a diploma in computer science, said, “I and my brother have brought samosas with us from Faridabad. We were protesting peacefully yesterday. The way the government has treated the children will only lead to more outrage.”
Every few hours, delivery officers would stop by the protest site to deliver food ordered by strangers to any hungry people. Around 7.30 pm, HT met a delivery executive who was on a video call with a customer who had ordered several kilos of biryani.
Ravi Kumar, who came from a restaurant in Greater Kailash, told HT. “Someone named Anil ordered 25 vegetarian thalis and asked me to drop it near the protest site. They just wanted to help the students. This is my second order delivery here.”
By 10 pm, appeals started being made from the platform to stop online ordering.
“People are affected by the protests and everything that happened on Monday. Even though they can’t be here, they are still showing their support in ways like this,” said a 31-year-old protester, who declined to be named.
Among those who met the protesters at Jantar Mantar during the day were former Delhi chief minister Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, who arrived along 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 police violence against protesters. “These children are the future of the country. Narendra Modi’s government can’t handle one NEET paper, how will they run the country? Not just Dharmendra Pradhan, but Modi should also resign.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was also present at the spot. “One resignation will not suffice. The entire system needs to be changed,” he told the crowd. He said, “The whole of Maharashtra stands with you… one nation, one feeling. We all will fight with you till the end.”
The numbers gradually increased at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. At 6 am, only a handful of supporters remained scattered at the protest site as light rain had left the ground wet. By 8 am, the mood had changed slightly after CJP founder Abhijeet Deepke and spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka arrived to meet students and volunteers before visiting the partially damaged stage, which has now been partially covered with yellow plastic sheets to protect them from rain.
Tuesday morning was spent in rearranging everything that was broken – bamboo poles were re-erected, a speaker was arranged, chairs were fixed and cleaned. By afternoon, Jantar Mantar once again turned into a bustling protest site. Hundreds of supporters crowded the narrow area, raising slogans against the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, demanding accountability and Pradhan’s resignation.
Children were also present in the protest for the second consecutive day. Three friends, aged 15, from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, quietly reached Jantar Mantar from the city by bus, metro and then on foot. “Our parents don’t know we are here. If we had asked for permission, they would not have allowed us to come here. They are scared after what they saw yesterday – children being beaten by the police. But we had to come. It is our future that is at stake,” said one of them, as they walked through the exit queue inside the protest site, drenched in rain.
Throughout the day, the site was buzzing with activity as student groups staged street plays, volunteers livestreamed speeches and interactions through continuous social media vlogs, while chants echoed across the barricaded area.
“We will continue our protest until the government comes here to meet us and agree to our demands. We will not launch another march right now, but are working on a strategy. We just want our supporters to come here in large numbers,” Dupke told HT.
Despite the calm atmosphere, Monday’s violence remained a major topic of conversation. The students repeatedly recalled the scenes of stone pelting, lathi charge and terror that took place during the march towards Parliament.
In the tense atmosphere, supporters clapped and cheered whenever a police contingent entered the protest site. Along with clapping, sarcastic slogans were chanted at officers, which protesters said was their way of mocking what they described as police atrocities during Monday’s clashes.
Ananya, a second-year student of Delhi University, said, “We came here to demand justice on the exam that decides our future, but instead we were treated like criminals. Those responsible for the paper leak should be arrested, the exam process should be transparent and the education minister should resign. Instead, students were beaten up for raising legitimate questions.”
Another protester, Rohit, an engineering aspirant from Uttar Pradesh, said many students traveling long distances were unwilling to go despite the previous day’s violence.
He said, “The government has not answered even a single question on the leak, but the police had as many answers as they could in force. We are angry because no one has taken responsibility. We want a time-bound investigation, action against those behind the leak and assurance that students will not be lathicharged for protesting peacefully.”
Those involved in Monday’s protest said the experience of the previous day had made them more determined to continue protesting. “Yesterday suddenly the police attacked me and my friends with sticks, and we saw a woman in front of us being beaten multiple times. The police were aiming at our feet to make us fall. This protest is no longer just about education, it is about all the institutions in our country not functioning properly,” said Chiranshi (20), a student who participated in the protest.
Another detained student, Siddharth (22), said he had been sleeping at the protest site for the last three days. He said, “It is important for us to stay here because the education system determines the future of the country and it is not working properly at present. I was extremely scared when I was being detained yesterday, but I will stay here. The police at the police station also motivated us and told us that what we are doing is right.”
Rupesh, a 26-year-old UPSC aspirant who was present at the protest, said he was not present at Monday’s protest or any of the earlier protests. “I am here today because when I saw how the protesters were treated yesterday, I felt I had to go to the grounds and see for myself what was happening. Now that I am here, I feel this whole movement is important for the students. I don’t understand why the government is not listening to the students demanding their rights. As long as the protests continue, I will keep coming here.”
