Rain, Slogans and No Leaders: Jantar Mantar Protesters Hold the Night After Police Action

Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, 1:30 AM: Hours after the Delhi Police action that emptied much of Jantar Mantar, the protest was still running. Rain had turned the site into a slush of wet tarpaulin and plastic sheeting. A handful of protesters sat slumped against the barricades, visibly spent. The rest were on their feet.The demand had not changed: the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Protesters told Times Now Digital they had no intention of leaving.The site kept working through the night: Some raised slogans. Others swept water off the ground, handed out bottles and packets of biscuits, and spoke to reporters. The logistics of a sit-in continued in the rain — a sign, several protesters said, that the crackdown had not achieved

what it was meant to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tqBeTorjeE

A man dressed as Mahatma Gandhi moved through the crowd, dancing to "Sadda Haq" and drawing cheers. It was the only light moment of the night.Several women stayed on well past midnight, carrying the tricolour and leading slogans alongside the men.A serious allegation, so far unverified: Among the most serious claims made to Times Now Digital was an allegation that Delhi Police personnel tore a woman's skirt and stamped on her chest during the earlier action.Times Now Digital could not independently verify this allegation. This is what a few youngsters alleged at the protest site."Din mein maar-peet, raat mein baat-cheet": At around 2:30 AM, a group of police personnel who had been standing outside walked into the barricaded area. One officer began speaking to a protester in a corner while a second recorded the conversation on a phone.When the Times Now Digital camera moved in to film the exchange, the police objected and the crew was asked to stop recording. As the cameras came down, a protester shouted: "Din mein maar-peet, raat mein baat-cheet" — beatings by day, conversation by night. The slogan was picked up across the site. It could not be filmed.Protesters pressed the officers on the treatment of students during the day's action and on the identity of men in plain clothes they alleged had joined the assault. The police refused to respond to them and walked away.The organisers were not there: Absent through all of this were the men most closely associated with the protest: founder Abhijit Dipke and other prominent members of the protests. Neither was at the site during the hours Times Now Digital was present.Their absence left basic questions unanswered on the ground — whether the sit-in would continue past daybreak, whether legal help was being arranged for those detained, and whether the alleged assault on the woman would be formally pursued. The protesters holding the barricades in the rain could not say. We have reached out to CJP spokespersons and will update the story based on their comments.The movement, on the evidence of the night, is not ending. Who is leading it is a different question.