The Cockroach Janta Party political campaign on Monday demanded that the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance must immediately release protesters who were detained or arrested during the agitation last week.The campaign said that the states must also withdraw the first information reports filed against protesters. “Further necessary steps” will be taken if the government fails to adhere to its promise, it said in a statement.The campaign said that it was concerned by reports that demonstrators had been “targeted, detained or arrested” by state agencies in BJP-ruled Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.CJP asks government to honour its promiseThe Cockroach Janta Party said that it had on Saturday withdrawn its call for a nationwide protest only after the Union government assured it that “no punitive action would be taken against any protester, either now or in the future, in any BJP-ruled or NDA-ruled” states.It urged the Union government, and ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh to “immediately honour the assurance given to us by ensuring the release of those detained and by directing that no coercive or retaliatory action is taken against any protester anywhere in the country”.Nadda and Singh had represented the government during its talks with the campaign.The Cockroach Janta Party said that it was reminding the Union government of its commitment to provide the campaign its written guarantee to this end by Tuesday.“Our decision to suspend the nationwide protest was taken in good faith and solely on the basis of the government’s assurance that it would stand by its word,” the campaign said.“Any departure from that assurance” would not only amount to breaching trust of the Cockroach Janta Party, but also be a “breach of public trust with lakhs of young Indians who chose dialogue over protests”, it added. Such a breach of trust would be “completely unacceptable” to the youth, the campaign said. “The government…derives credibility not from just making a promise, but from the promises they honour,” the campaign said. It also said that its legal team was coordinating with lawyers in the states to secure the release of the persons who had been detained and to provide legal assistance.Arrests and detentionsThe agitation in Delhi started on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party began a protest at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union education minister at the time, over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams.On July 20, thousands joined the protest two days after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks, to hospital. Their march to Parliament was met with a crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis, fired tear gas shells and pellet guns against the demonstrators.The police action turbocharged the agitation, which spread to other parts of the country and forced Pradhan to resign on Saturday.Hundreds of persons, including minors, were detained during the protests in Patna last week.In neighbouring West Bengal, 14 persons, mostly Muslims, were arrested for allegedly attacking police personnel and journalists during a protest against paper leaks in Kolkata on Friday. Cases have been filed against 70 persons, it added. They were being booked under the recently-enacted 2026 West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, or the Goonda Act.The Assam Police had arrested six persons and detained at least 24 in connection with a demonstration held in Guwahati in solidarity with the protests in Delhi, The Indian Express reported.Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.Also read: Family of Muslim volunteer at Jantar Mantar protest released by UP PoliceFollow Scroll’s coverage of the youth protests here