Delhi Police failed to ‘book’ this library

The police tried to shut down the library thrice in the span of a month. But it simply kept coming back.

On June 20, 2026, the Cockroach Janta Party – a meme page which evolved into a youth movement – called for a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, union education minister, over corruption reflected in exam paper leaks and irregularities. The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) decided to start a library at the site. The intention behind it was quite straightforward.

“For protestors, Jantar Mantar was going to be their home for the next few days,” said Viraaj Devang, national president of the AISF. “You chant slogans the whole day and listen to speeches. But you also have a lot of time to yourself. In situations like these, books are perfect company. Our idea was for protestors and students to read literature and improve their social and political consciousness.”

The student activists brought a wooden table and covered it with a red cloth, which read: ‘Pradhan Must Fall.’ On the first day, “we had books on Shivaji Maharaj, Bhagat Singh, and Babasaheb Ambedkar,” said Mohit, 20, one of the student activists who ran the library on a daily basis. “A protest without revolutionary literature is like a leader without ideology. Literature guides protestors on how to resist and rebel.”

Besides, the library also had books from Premchand, children’s literature and autobiographies of scientists. “The scientific temperament in our society is going down,” Mohit added. “So we thought we should have some of that too.”

However, immediately after the AISF set up their library, officials with the Delhi Police objected to it, saying that it was illegal. “We said this is a free access library and there is no commercial element to it,” Devang explained. “After a bit of argument, the police went back.”

It wouldn’t be the last time the police would poke the library.

For the next 10-12 days, well-wishers at the protest site donated more and more books and the pile kept growing larger. The register next to it filled up with more entries. But on July 2, the police returned. This time, they said, “it could cause a stampede, and people have a problem with it,” Devang recalled. “But the protestors immediately gathered and said that is not the case.”

Vishal, 20, who like Mohit only uses his first name, helmed the library at the time. “The police might have a problem with it, but the library is for people,” he said. “We refused to dismantle it.”

However, this time around the Delhi Police wasn’t going away after an argument. “You want to be a neta,” one official condescendingly said to Vishal and detained him. Vishal’s colleague, Bittu, was also dragged by the collar because he was recording the interaction on his phone.

“The police desecrated the books of Bhagat Singh, Shivaji Maharaj and Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Devang said. “They must apologise for insulting our national heroes.”

The books included Shivaji Kaun Thhey, a Hindi translation of a Marathi book on Shivaji Maharaj, authored by Govind Pansare, who was murdered by Hindu extremists, Bhagat Singh vs RSS, which analyses the ideological difference between the revolutionary leader and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the collected works of B.R. Ambedkar.

“We believe that even if one person reads such a book, they will tell 10 others about it. That is how incremental change happens,” Mohit said.

However, Vishal and Bittu say that after being detained, abused and beaten up by the police, they were also threatened with a long drawn court case. It was only after their AISF friends reached the police station and raised a hue and cry over their detention, that the two were released.

“I wasn’t scared because of the police,” Vishal said. “I was scared my parents would find out.”

Vishal belongs to a small village in Rajasthan. His father is a farmer, mother a homemaker – and they have no idea their son is a student activist. “They might not let me stay in Delhi if they find out,” he said.

Yet, when he returned to the protest site, one of the first things Vishal did was to set up the library all over again. The AISF, associated with the Communist Party of India, managed to bring back the books and had it up and running. The register notched up 1,500 entries over the next few days.

On July 20, the Cockroach Janta Party along with student organisations like the All India Students Association (AISA) and AISF, issued a call for a peaceful march to Parliament.

For 25 days prior to this, Ladakh-based environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk and student activists Neha Bora, Manish Kumar, and Aameen Amitoj were on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar with the same demands: accountability and transparency in exams and state recruitments.

Tens of thousands of people – largely youth – swarmed the streets of Jantar Mantar amidst heavy police and security deployment. As the day progressed, the slogans made way for the hiss of tear gas and shouts of a lathi-charge against peaceful protestors. Their injuries included serious head wounds pouring blood. Young women had their clothes torn. Even minor students were not spared. At least three were hit with a pellet gun, of the kind notorious for blinding many in Kashmir.

The library too was destroyed in the process. “The police threw away the table and books,” Vishal said. “The canopy above it was torn apart. We had decorated it with posters and banners. Those were also destroyed. You couldn’t figure out that a library existed here.”

However, despite the injuries, devastation and a brutal crackdown, the protestors returned to Jantar Mantar and reclaimed the site. That same night, Vishal was busy laying out books on a table on the same spot. The number of books wasn’t as many, but he was making a statement. “The library will be here as long as the protestors are,” he promised that night. It turned out to be true.

Five days later, on July 25, Pradhan resigned amidst growing pressure. The student activists and protestors celebrated a win. AISF activists quietly wrapped up the library and distributed the remaining books among their cadre.

“Why would anybody be afraid of books?” Devang asked. “To be afraid of books is a sign of cowardice.”