When the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) launched its protest in June, 26-year-old Aminul Hoque followed the movement from Assam, actively supporting it online. Believing that students protesting over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak were raising valid concerns, his support grew stronger after Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk joined the agitation and began an indefinite hunger strike at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
However, Hoque said it was not Wangchuk's hunger strike that prompted him to travel to Delhi. Instead, it was the videos from the July 20 clashes.
After watching footage of Delhi Police using lathis and tear gas to disperse protesters during the CJP's march towards Parliament, Hoque decided to travel to the national capital. Within two days, he had boarded a flight from Assam.
"They attacked students who were protesting peacefully. I came here from Assam to show that they have messed with the wrong generation," Hoque told India Today Digital at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
His journey reflects a broader shift taking place at the protest site. For several weeks, Jantar Mantar had hosted a steady but relatively manageable gathering of students and activists demanding accountability over the alleged examination irregularities and seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Attendance generally remained limited to a few thousand people.
That changed after the police action on July 20.
By Wednesday afternoon, the number of people arriving at Jantar Mantar had surged, with large crowds, particularly young people, streaming in through roads connecting Sansad Marg and Tolstoy Road. Even CJP organisers found it difficult to estimate the turnout, but it was evident that the movement had entered a new phase.
Many of those reaching the protest site said they had not participated earlier and had decided to join after watching videos of the July 20 clashes circulating on social media.
One phrase repeatedly echoed in conversations, speeches and slogans across the venue: "Baccho ko nahi maarna chahiye tha" (Students should not have been beaten).
Frustration turns into anger
For many participants, the events of July 20 transformed frustration into anger.
Questioning the police response, Hoque said students were simply seeking accountability and argued that using force against them would only encourage more people to join the movement.
His views were echoed by many young protesters gathered around the main stage.
A 20-year-old BTech student from Delhi said authorities had expected students to be intimidated by the police action, but the growing crowds showed otherwise.
The student added that the protesters' primary demand was the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as an act of accountability and criticised the government's response, saying force had been used instead of dialogue.
Delhi Police defend their actions
The measures adopted by Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel to disperse protesters appeared, according to many demonstrators, to have had the opposite effect.
Rather than diminishing, the protest continued to grow.
Delhi Police, however, maintained that the use of lathis and tear gas was necessary.
According to police, more than 118 personnel, including senior officers, were injured during the July 20 protest, while around 70 protesters were detained.
In an official statement, Delhi Police alleged that demonstrators displayed "unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour" despite repeated warnings to disperse. The force claimed protesters violated prohibitory orders, attempted to breach barricades, attacked police personnel with stones and other objects, vandalised police and government vehicles and damaged public property, posing a serious threat to law and order.
These competing narratives now define the movement. While police maintain they acted against a violent crowd, many students argue that the crackdown itself has become the reason the protest continues to expand.
A protester's message to Delhi Police
Amid the thousands gathered at Jantar Mantar, one protester stood holding a handwritten placard reading, "Thank you for your love."
The message was intended sarcastically.
Visible bruises covered his face, arms and shoulders. He alleged that the injuries were sustained during the police action on July 20.
As students stopped to photograph the placard, slogans against Delhi Police and the RAF continued to rise across the protest site.
Compared to previous days, the atmosphere appeared noticeably different. While anger was evident, so too was determination.
For many protesters, social media had become both a record of events and a powerful tool for mobilisation. The same videos documenting the July 20 clashes had inspired many people to travel to Delhi and join the movement.
Police action gives fresh momentum to protests
Until July 20, the protest had largely focused on alleged examination irregularities and demands for ministerial accountability.
Since the police action, however, discussions have increasingly expanded to include the right to protest, civil liberties and the state's response to dissent.
As the day progressed into evening, there were few signs that the crowds were shrinking. Food stalls and volunteers continued to provide meals for protesters, while fresh groups of students kept arriving from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and several other states.
Many carried overnight bags, indicating they planned to remain at the protest site.
By Wednesday, one conclusion appeared increasingly evident at Jantar Mantar.
Although the Parliament march on July 20 ended amid barricades, tear gas and lathi-charge, many protesters believe the police action produced the opposite of its intended effect.
Rather than dispersing the movement, they say it provided a renewed sense of purpose.
As slogans continued well after sunset, thousands of students appeared determined to convey that a generation which felt it had been met with force instead of dialogue had chosen not to withdraw, but to return in even greater numbers.
