The sky over Jantar Mantar changes its shades in different colors. Sometimes the orange of scorching heat depicts the flaring anger of the protestor; sometimes it turns soothing blue, highlighting the tranquility the cause brings to the hearts of protestors, and other times it is enveloped in slate grey clouds, gathered with intent to pour its lashes at the protesters.
As the weather oscillates between the extremes, the emotions also course through the protesting sites with some beautiful stories sketching through them all. It is the 21st day of the Cockroach Janata Party protest against the frequent paper leaks taking place in the country. Cockroach Janata Party is a satirical online movement created in 2026 by Abhijeet Dipke as humor and protest against remarks made by Chief Justice Surya Kant on May 15 earlier this year. Kant referred to youths of the nation as “cockroaches” who don’t get employment and don’t have a place in a profession.
Police personnel remained stationed behind yellow barricades amidst the crowd of protestors. Their images made rounds on the internet along with protesters. However, another image from the protest site is also travelling the internet, garnering love and affection, appreciation, and motivation. The image is of a Muslim man in white kurta pajamas with a beard on his face and a prayer cap on his head. He holds packets of food and water bottles in his hand, distributing them to exhausted protestors.
The man identified as Mohammad Junaid spent his days and nights on the site for a single cause: to contribute to the cry for justice. His protest is not through slogans and chants but through cartons of food and bottles of water. For Junaid, the protest transcends the usual politics. It is, for him, a struggle for moral restitution.
“The greatest source of my motivation,” he says, “is seeing people assembled here for a righteous cause. They are united by a single purpose—education.” His voice is calm, but his words carry an unmistakable cadence of anguish.”
“Across this country, students are being subjected to profound injustice because of examination paper leaks. A child studies sixteen or seventeen hours every single day, believing that merit will determine their future,” Junaid says.
“They have earned the right to that seat through relentless labor. Instead, those seats are sold. Those who have not invested the same effort move ahead, while deserving students are left behind,” he adds.
When talking about the consequences of his tireless work, he says the consequences extend far beyond compromised examinations.
“What follows is invisible but devastating,” he continues.
“Young people are crushed under unbearable psychological strain. We have gathered at Jantar Mantar with one mission alone, to secure justice for students. Fear has no place here,” Junaid says.
The protest has become a test of endurance. Howver, he says he is not scared of anything.
Meantime, his conviction has been shaped not merely by statistics or headlines but by encounters that refuse to leave his memory. Among them is the story of Amyra.
“One day, Amyra’s mother telephoned me,” he recalls.
“She told me Amyra’s birthday was approaching and that she wished to commemorate it here at the protest. They traveled all the way from Jaipur carrying food for everyone.”
He pauses before continuing: “My heart became unbearably heavy when the very first plate was handed to me.”
Amyra, who was only nine years old, died on November 1 after falling nearly 48 feet from the fourth floor of her school, Neeraj Modi School, Jaipur. According to her parents, she was repeatedly bullied inside the classroom, and the school’s failure in handling the bullying pushed Amayra into suicide.
Meantime, the injustice, Javid believes, did not end with Amyra.
“Coaching institutions have transformed education into an industry,” he says.
“Families invest enormous sums of money with the hope of securing a better future for their children. Yet when their buildings flood, students drown. When fires erupt, young lives are extinguished. Where is the accountability? Where is the responsibility owed to these children? ” he asks.
Palpably referring to the death of students in 2024 at Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Karol Bagh, where the rainwater clogged in the basement killed students who got trapped in it. The other news he talks about is the death of students, which occurred in Lucknow’s Aliganj and claimed the lives of at least 15.
Soon the evening descends too, Jantar Mantar assumes a different character, but Junaid continues his circuit through the crowd, balancing another crate of bottles in his hands.
Before disappearing once again into the crowd, he offers a final sentence that encapsulates the spirit of his journey: “Children deserve justice.”
