Published Jul 27, 2026 | 1:54 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 27, 2026 | 1:54 PM
The government and CJP spokespersons addressed the media on 25 July.
Synopsis: Various reports on Monday said police in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar were rounding up protesters. The CJP demanded that the Union government honour its promise of not initiating any coercive action — now or in future — against those who participated in the Gen Z agitation.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday, 27 July, urged the Union government to “immediately honour” its assurance that no punitive action would be taken against any protester, either now or in the future, in any BJP- or NDA-ruled states.
CJP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das raised the demand following multiple reports of students and other protestors being targeted, detained, or arrested by various state agencies, particularly in NDA-ruled Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar.
Das also issued an ultimatum to the government to furnish the written guarantee to the CJP by Tuesday.
The CJP had withdrawn its agitation in “good faith” on Saturday, 25 July, after Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down as the Minister for Education and the Union government, represented by ministers JP Nadda and Jithendra Singh, reportedly agreed to meet the demands of the agitating students and youth.
Related: CJP withdraws agitation after government “accepts all demands”
Various reports on Monday said police in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar were rounding up protesters.
All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora said a witch-hunt is underway across the country against those who were part of the movements against paper leaks.
“In Bihar, along with Paliganj MLA Sandeep Saurav, AISA activist comrades Dhananjay, Dipankar, Sabha, and Divyam have been locked up in Beur Jail for about three days. More than nine cases have been filed against them, including an attempt to murder charge. All these fake cases are being slapped based on a single day’s protest. Reports are coming in that more than 100 protesters are still locked up in various jails across Bihar.
“Other reports are coming from Bengal, where around 14 students have been jailed for protesting against paper leaks. A majority of these protesters are Muslim students. Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Minister of Bengal, has declared that similar cases will now be filed against 70 more people,” she added.
Related: When books clashed with police batons for a better India
“We are deeply concerned by multiple reports reaching us of students and other protestors being targeted, detained, or arrested by various state agencies, particularly in Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar,” Das posted on X.
“The Cockroach Janta Party had called off its nationwide protest only after the Government of India assured us that no punitive action would be taken against any protester, either now or in the future, in any BJP-ruled or NDA-ruled states. The reports emerging from these states are therefore a matter of grave concern,” he further stated.
Das assured every protester that the CJP’s legal team was already “coordinating with brilliant lawyers” in the states concerned to secure the release of those detained and to extend all possible legal assistance.
Related: When young India found its voice
“We call upon the Government of India, particularly @JPNadda ji and @DrJitendraSingh ji, 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. The FIRs registered ought to be withdrawn too.
The Government of India is also reminded of its commitment to furnish us the written guarantee in this regard by tomorrow, Tuesday, 28 July 2026,” he said.
He reiterated the CJP decided to suspend the nationwide protest in good faith and solely based on the government’s assurance that it would stand by its word.
“Any departure from that assurance would not merely amount to a breach of trust with the Cockroach Janta Party but would also be a breach of public trust with lakhs of young Indians who chose dialogue over protests,” he stated, and warned that such breach of trust would be completely unacceptable to the youth.
“The Government of India is reminded that it derives credibility not from just making a promise, but from the promises they honour,” he told the Centre.
Das assured the young protestors that the CJP was closely monitoring the situation and expected the Government of India and all BJP/NDA state governments to act with utmost urgency, responsibility, and good faith that the present circumstances demand.
“We demand that all detainees/arrestees be released immediately, and in any case by tomorrow, and that all FIRs be withdrawn immediately, failing which we shall take further necessary steps,” he added.
CJP’s national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka was blunt. “Any punitive action against our students won’t be tolerated,” he warned on X.
Related: At Jantar Mantar, a generation that stopped being afraid
West Bengal government on Saturday said the state had, for the first time, invoked the newly enacted anti-goonda law against those accused of orchestrating violence, and they would be stringently punished.
“I censure the attack on our journalist friends on behalf of the entire House. An attack on journalists is unacceptable. We will take such action under the Goonda Act that these goons and even their next three generations will remember it. This is precisely why this law was enacted, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told the state Assembly on Saturday.
He added that 70 people, who had indulged in violence, have been identified.
After Saturday’s talks with the Centre, Das, in a joint news conference with Nadda and Singh, said the government had agreed to all of CJP’s demands. The ministers present did not contradict his statement.
Besides Pradhan’s resignation taking responsibility for the NEET paper leak, the CJP had also demanded maximum possible compensation for families of students who had died by suicide, withdrawal of all FIRs registered by the Centre and NDA-ruled states, and no action to be initiated against protesters in future.
The government, the CJP said, will consider its five-point exam reform charter.
While ending his 23-day fast on 23 July, educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk also said that the government had assured him that no punitive action would be initiated against the protesters.
The CJP’s statement and ultimatum came even as a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymala Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana took up a batch of petitions seeking a probe into the alleged police excesses during the CJP’s Parliament march on 20 July.
🚨STATEMENT
We are deeply concerned by multiple reports reaching us of students and other protestors being targeted, detained, or arrested by various state agencies, particularly in Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar.
The Cockroach Janta Party had called off its nationwide protest…
— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) July 27, 2026
