Students return to Jantar Mantar to debunk viral false protest videos

A week after the 36-day protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) ended at Jantar Mantar, students continue to return to the site, not to stage fresh demonstrations, but to counter what they describe as a wave of misleading social media posts falsely.

Carrying timestamps including August 1, July 31 and July 30, several of the clips have amassed millions of views, fuelling speculation that the protest is continuing despite having officially concluded. The viral posts have prompted representatives of student organisations to visit the protest site.

What Happened

On Saturday (August 1) evening, the stretch from Patel Chowk Metro station to Jantar Mantar remained under heavy security. Personnel from the Delhi Police, Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) stood along the route, with police buses and.

• Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

• If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments.

• If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles.

Key Details

Workers were simultaneously repainting the yellow barricades erected outside the protest site, even as visitors and students continued to walk through the area. We have been seeing videos on Instagram claiming there are fresh protests by student unions at Jantar Mantar.

• We have migrated to a new commenting platform.

• Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

• Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences.

Why It Matters

We spoke to local vendors, student organisations and media personnel, who confirmed no protests have taken place. Police officials have also termed these claims baseless.

• An ice cream vendor outside the visitor entrance echoed the sentiment, saying the decline in footfall had significantly affected sales despite the hot weather.

• Business has dropped sharply over the past week because visitors are staying away.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by The Hindu as more details emerge