NEW DELHI: At the Jantar Mantar protest site of Cockroach Janta Party, a langar had rolled out, and lassi was being served. Slippers, metal plates and the odd suitcase lay scattered after the overnight protest by CJP.On the second day of the protest, which has focused on the NEET UG paper leak, Abhijit Dipke and his supporters refused to vacate Jantar Mantar, although police informed them that the permission for holding the agitation had ended at 5 pm on Saturday. CJP spokespersons requested the authorities to allot an alternative venue where the sit-in could continue. Till then, they would not leave Jantar Mantar, they saidCJP wants Rs 1 crore compensation each for the students who died by suicide after the paper leak. They also want Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.On the day the NEET UG re-test was held, Dipke appealed to students to join the agitation in larger numbers. He urged NEET aspirants to join the agitation after completing their examination. Without their support the “movement won’t be successful,” he said.For many at the protest site, the agitation was a way of representing the candidates and their families, who were unable to join the protest. Among them was Gyaneshwar Raghunath Thorat, a 58-year-old from Maharashtra’s Sambhajinagar, for whom the turnout signalled that CJP had passed the litmus test. “These children spend years studying and working hard to secure a better future. It is heartbreaking when the examinations they prepare for are compromised for the benefit of a few,” he said.Aersh Danish, a 33-year-old entrepreneur, said he attended the protest while keeping his cousins motivated amid the alleged rise of suicide cases among NEET aspirants. “We are here on behalf of our brothers and sisters to ensure that their voices are heard, and nobody has to go through the fate of those 12 unfortunate children,” he said.The gathering also drew younger participants. Seventeen-year-old twin sisters Aanya Kumari and Tanya Kumari from Rohini sat there because the cause is close to their hearts. They will appear for these entrance exams next year. “We students need to come together to make sure that govt takes accountability and doesn’t repeat the mistakes,” they said.At the site, volunteers distributed water and churned lassi in large drums to help people cope with the heat. Some Sikh volunteers had organised meals. Durgesh Kuhike (26), a theatre artist who has been with CJP since its June 16 protest in Nagpur and stayed overnight at Jantar Mantar, said much of the support had emerged organically from the people. “The movement is being sustained through community participation — by providing water, organising langar, crowdfunding, or simply showing up to express solidarity,” he said.Sahil Sheikh, a 24-year-old civil services aspirant from Assam, seemed to have come prepared for an extended stay at Jantar Mantar. He moved through the crowd carrying a blue suitcase. “I am not leaving the protest until the NTA is scrapped and the education minister resigns. Until then, I will remain in Delhi,” he said.
