Nothing captures the mood in central Delhi on Monday, 20 July, better than this first-person account circulating on social media:

“A sea of people, a vibrant, beautiful wave of protesters demanding change and accountability! There were sporadic incidents of lathi charge and some people were forced into buses, but largely protesters managed to move ahead peacefully, with slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. Carrying the national flag, the Constitution, and photos of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh, they marched on. The police also mingled with the crowd and moved forward with them. The protesters were simply walking towards Parliament; nobody was using any force or violence against the police. This was the scene up until Sansad Marg police station, where more buses were stationed to prevent people from moving ahead.

“All this while, all the police did was try to push the people back. People still managed to move forward. Seeing this, the government could have decided to let the march proceed and allowed the MPs to meet the protesters outside Parliament. Eventually, spokespersons from the CJP did meet JP Nadda, and some MPs also set out from........

© National Herald