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Taru had come to the protest prepared this time. In one hand was an anti-government poster and in the other was a bicycle helmet. “We need to have protection in case Delhi police beat us up again,” said the 25-year-old, who stood among her friends. “We are not scared of them and we won’t run away, no matter what they do. We’ll stay here till they listen.”
On Tuesday, central Delhi still thronged with thousands of protesters, as an unprecedented expression of dissent against the powerful ruling Narendra Modi government showed no sign of abating.
Just 24 hours earlier, more than 50,000 people took to the streets in protest, swathes of them in their late teens and early 20s, mobilised by a new youth-led political movement that calls itself the Cockroach Janta party (CJP). Their rallying call was the resignation of the education minister and for reform of a corrupt and broken education system.
But what began peacefully on Monday – people fanning each other in the gruelling humidity, sharing snacks and chanting slogans – turned into scenes of brutality by the afternoon. Delhi police denied the protesters the right to march on parliament and kettled the expanding crowd into a restricted area. The internet was shut down and barricades were erected across the capital. The came the police batons and the teargas.
Police said they were responding to agitation but organisers and witnesses claimed the police carried out unprovoked attacks, including against women and children in the crowd. About 60 suffered injuries and at least one protester is on a ventilator in hospital intensive care.
“The day was so wholesome to start with, there was so much love,” said Taru. “But after 3pm the police started attacking us. They were bashing us like anything. I saw them come up and hit people on the head as they were sitting down on the pavement doing nothing. And then as we were running, they opened up teargas on us.”
Taru described the response by Delhi police – which are under central government control – as a “big mistake. Now we are more agitated than ever.”
On Tuesday, the heavy hand of the Delhi police did little to keep supporters away from the historical site of Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which has become the focal point of the CJP protests over the past month. The crowds were thick and lively as they shouted slogans against the Modi government with abandon, calling for both the education minister and the prime minister to resign.
Some had travelled hundreds of miles to be there and said they intended to camp out until the government responded to the demands of the country’s millions of young people. “The government needs to understand: we are not going anywhere,” said Ranjit Verma, 23.
India’s main opposition Congress party had also seized upon the mood, calling for Modi to resign “for destroying the future of India’s youth” as it held its own protest in Delhi on Tuesday.
While the CJP movement has primarily focused on accountability for devastating leaks of exam papers and calling for the resignation of the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, the overriding feeling in the aftermath of Monday’s protest was that this was now so much bigger than one issue. For some, this was the moment India’s youth – totalling more than 600 million – had found its political voice.
“The solidarity on the streets yesterday filled my heart,” said Kuhoo Kaushik, 26, a content creator from Delhi. “How the government responded was really sad, police beating up 14-year-olds is horrible. But personally, I feel like it’s really awoken something in me.
“That’s why I’ve come back today: we won’t be moved until the government listens to us. It’s become about so much more than education – but one step at a time”’
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke vowed that the protests would continue, though did not state what the next steps for the movement would be to capitalise on their momentum.
Standing by the stage at the protest site, Ratna Singh, a CJP spokesperson, said the movement was very aware of ways in which the Modi government had successfully cracked down on previous movements and figures of dissent during its 12 years in power.
“Anyone who has tried to speak up against this government has faced terrorism charges or tax raids or jail and there is so much fear,” she said. “But I am very proud at how many people have showed up and come out on the streets. The police showed us no mercy – but no matter what barbaric treatment they give us, we will not be silenced.”
While a senior government minister met two CJP spokespeople on Monday to discuss their demands, Singh said the government had not responded to them on Tuesday and the “prime minister has remained silent about what happened”.
It was not only young people who returned to the protest site on Tuesday. Shobha Varma, 80, was attending with her granddaughter. “Our education system has been failing young people for years,” she said. “But when I look out at everyone here, I really feel hope.”
