NEW DELHI — A constant flow of food delivery riders on motorcycles is helping keep a youth-driven protest movement alive in the center of India’s capital, ferrying meals, snacks, and bottled water donated by supporters who cannot be there in person.
The riders navigate through busy traffic before pulling up alongside groups of volunteers, carrying contributions from people across India and even from overseas who want to show solidarity with the demonstrators.
“From Kerala to the USA, orders are coming from everywhere,” said Suraj Kumar, 25, seated on his motorcycle with a bag of kachoris — a popular deep-fried snack — as some volunteers climbed over police barricades to collect the packages.
The deliveries are passed hand-to-hand toward the center of the demonstration near Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory, where hundreds of people have gathered around a raised platform. There, leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party — a movement that started as online satire back in May — are calling for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a series of exam paper leaks. The group has been stationed at the site since last month, but the protest gained new energy in recent days after a well-known activist launched an indefinite hunger strike in support of the cause.
The encampment has held on despite a significant police crackdown on Monday, when tens of thousands of mostly young people attempted to march toward parliament. People under the age of 30 are estimated to make up more than half of India’s 1.42 billion population, and many have long voiced frustration that years of economic growth have not produced enough jobs.
“People are angry, especially after the police started beating innocent students. But not everyone can come here so they are sending food,” said Raj Rathore, 25, a volunteer who has spent several days unloading and handing out deliveries including water bottles, fruit, and biscuits.
Those contributions, combined with volunteer-run support networks, have allowed the protest to continue around the clock, according to students at the site.
“This protest is running purely because of people’s kindness, and the fact that we are all united,” said Rina Rawat, a Delhi University student directing people into lines inside the protest area.
Rawat, 20, was struck on her left leg by police batons on Monday but came back the next day to, as she put it, “do her duty.”
Prime Minister Modi has not directly addressed the protests publicly. However, a minister said after a meeting of the ruling coalition that the prime minister told them the “strongest possible steps are being taken to protect the interest of the students.” Education Minister Pradhan, for his part, pledged “answers, reforms and accountability.”
By late Wednesday afternoon, the crowd at the protest site had grown to around 5,000 people, even as monsoon showers came and went throughout the day. The majority were young students carrying signs, playing patriotic Bollywood songs, and chanting slogans.
“Modi, we won’t tolerate your autocracy,” one protester shouted as the crowd cheered — a striking scene under a leader who has dominated Indian politics since coming to power in 2014.
“I was a Modi supporter until 10 days ago,” said a man who gave only his first name, Mukesh. “But when I saw the police brutality, I was shocked.”
Volunteers at the site worked to keep conditions manageable, clearing puddles and picking up garbage, while others used handheld fans to help protesters stay cool in the humid weather.
A medical station staffed by volunteer doctors and medical students has been operating at the location for about a month. Volunteers said the past two days had kept them especially busy.
“We are providing first aid and medicines for dizziness and nausea,” said Bhavna, 23, who chose not to share her last name. “We too have suffered because of paper leaks — the anxiety that gives you is enormous.”
Many demonstrators drew inspiration from India’s independence movement, carrying portraits of revolutionary Bhagat Singh, holding copies of the Constitution, and distributing roses to those around them. Others wore Spider-Man masks and held signs describing themselves as “baddies.”
Nineteen-year-old Arpita Verma said she felt “there’s been too much Hindu-Muslim politics in India,” referring to deepening religious divisions under Modi’s party, which draws its core support from the Hindu majority.
“But we have no space for that here — now we are united by a common cause, and we are not afraid at all,” she said.
