From Instagram to Jantar Mantar: How creators became citizen journals during CJP protests

The student agitation led the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Delhi came to an end on Saturday evening following the resignation of Union education miner Dharmendra Pradhan.As the CJP protest concluded, digital creators emerged as citizen journals sharing on-ground updates and protest coverage. (REUTERS)(Also read: ‘Kha lijiye sir’: CJP protesters offer pizza to RAF personnel at Jantar Mantar, win praise)The demonstrations continued at Jantar Mantar for more than a month and focused on alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, particularly the NEET paper leak controversy. While students and activs raised their demands on the ground, several digital creators helped bring the protest to a wider audience through social media.Some creators shared videos, interactions and regular updates from protest sites, effectively taking on the role of citizen journals. Others joined the demonstrations in person and used their public presence to draw attention to the students’ concerns.Creators who highlighted the protests* Harsh Yadav: He regularly covered the protest at Jantar Mantar and shared interactions with demonstrators, giving his followers a closer look at the agitation and the demands being raised.* Kavya Karnatac: The digital creator used her social media platform to highlight the CJP protest, bringing ground-level developments and the protesters’ concerns to a wider online audience.* SheenaBlends: She shared information about the Mumbai protest, including details about the gathering and updates from the demonstration, through her Instagram account.* Raunaq Rajani: The stand-up comedian attended the CJP solidarity protest in Mumbai and was detained police. His participation brought further attention to demonstrations taking place outside Delhi.* Nakul Dhull: The creator physically participated in the CJP’s Sansad march in Delhi. Dharmendra Pradhan resignsPradhan resigned as education miner following days of sustained protests in the national capital. Announcing his decision, he said the developments of the previous 10 days had “saddened” him deeply and that the issue was “not a matter of personal prestige”.His resignation was one of the principal demands raised the CJP and the protesting students.(Also read: Day after ‘Chalo Sansad’ march, CJP protesters clean Jantar Mantar protest site: ‘You guys are real heroes’)CJP withdraws its protestFollowing Pradhan’s resignation, the Abhijeet Dipke-led Cockroach Janta Party announced that it was withdrawing the agitation. The organisation also claimed that the government had accepted its other demands, including the withdrawal of FIRs against protesters and compensation for the families of students who allegedly died suicide following the NEET paper leak.The agitation began at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 20. Activ Sonam Wangchuk joined the protest on June 28 and later began an indefinite hunger strike. He ended his fast late on July 23 following outreach from the Centre.Although the protest has ended, the involvement of digital creators highlighted how social media can carry movements from public spaces to millions of screens.