Modi in His Labyrinth; The Fear's Gone and So Has What Remains of the Strongman's Reputation; Arundhati Roy on Cockroach Democracy
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Snapshot of the day
July 22, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
The crowds at Jantar Mantar continue to swell, the students may be bruised and battered but they say they will not end their protest till Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns, and there is now a new demand they are making: All police officials involved in committing atrocities against peaceful protestors must be prosecuted.
Environmental activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, now on the 25th day of his hunger strike, has also laid down a simple condition for giving up his fast:
“I respectfully request an unequivocal assurance from the Government that none of the young protesters will face any punitive or retaliatory legal action for participating in this movement. Their only “offence” has been to raise their voice for a fair and accountable education system.
“If such an assurance is given, I shall end my fast with faith that the Government has heard not only my appeal but also the aspirations of lakhs of young Indians. In the absence of such an assurance, I will be forced to continue my fast indefinitely. I also hope that there will be no further use of excessive police force to repress the movement.”
There is talk of the government bringing in 20 more companies of the CRPF to Delhi in order to bring a swift – and brutal – end to the protest but one thing is already clear: Fear has broken the barricades and along with it the 56-inch strongman’s reputation is in tatters.
When a panicky regime shut down 17 metro stations in the centre of Delhi on Wednesday – a working day – the response of stranded commuters said it all:
‘Jab jab Modi darta hai, police ko aage karta hai’ (‘Whenever Modi's in fear, the police soon appear’) has emerged as an almost universal slogan of protestors in multiple cities – though the police themselves have not taken kindly to this chant. In Mumbai, they spent the day arresting protestors peacefully demanding Pradhan’s resignation. Among those held was Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of the Mahatma and a former Central Information Commissioner.
Late at night, in the face of widespread criticism and backlash, the Mumbai police released everyone it had detained.
In Patna, the Left’s student wing held a demonstration. The BJP government fired tear gas shells and also resorted to lathi charges.
Udupi in Karnataka – a stronghold of Hindutva – joined the protest against NEET paper leaks and police brutality unleashed on protestors in Delhi on July 20. Students from local colleges today joined, monsoon rain
