Police personnel checking all Vehicles leading towards Jantar Mantar on July 25, 2026. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
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 portraying the protest as ongoing.Instagram has been flooded with videos claiming to show “live” scenes of students clashing with police and marching through heavy security at Jantar Mantar. 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.One video claiming to be a 6 a.m. update on August 1 has crossed 2.8 million views. Another, presented as a 6.30 a.m. update on July 31, has received 1.9 million views, while other similarly labelled clips have attracted tens of thousands of views.The viral posts have prompted representatives of student organisations to visit the protest site, enquire with locals and even seek access to CCTV footage in an attempt to publicly refute what they call a fabricated narrative.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 patrol vehicles stationed every few metres. Workers were simultaneously repainting the yellow barricades erected outside the protest site, even as visitors and students continued to walk through the area.
