Despite the police action on July 20, protestors returned to Jantar Mantar to continue demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. There is still a crowd of nearly 10,000 to 15,000 people at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest. 

But running a protest is not easy. It is a volatile space and yet the massive crowd moves in lines, stands in queues, fans each other, trusts and helps each other. The protest site is being cleaned by people who don’t like trash strewn around. Anyone trying to incite the crowd is being asked to calm down.

To understand how the protest is being held together, Newslaundry spoke to the volunteers – both official and unofficial, revealing two parallel systems. One that runs on instinct. The other runs on coordination. Together, they keep the protest functioning.

The official hierarchy

Most volunteers we met in the crowd had not filled out any forms or signed up. They simply began helping wherever there was a gap. 

The hierarchy goes like this: the CJP leadership, followed by 13 core team members, nearly 50 marshal coordinators, and over 100 current volunteers, explained Ram Chandel, a 32-year-old member of the core team.

“New students keep joining because sometimes volunteers get tired and need some time to recover. Almost 3,000 volunteers have helped us so far.”

There are several teams for running the protest smoothly. These include ground communication, crowd management, waste management, security, social media, food and medicine.

Ram explained that while CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and their spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are tasked with meeting prominent personalities or official delegations who come to show solidarity, the volunteers are tasked with bringing them in. 

“I am currently managing the entry of media personnel. Everyone works in different departments. Most volunteers help each other out, while around 25 of the total 100 current volunteers have the authority to make decisions,” he added.

On being asked if the violence on July 20 could have been prevented, Ram said, “Yes, if we had more volunteers. But we were mostly managing through WhatsApp, and the government completely shut down the internet that day. We could not coordinate; we couldn’t contact kids near Bangla Sahib; we basically got stuck. Only a few people had walkie-talkies and the crowd was a lot – their batteries also drained.”

Ram Chandel, core member

According to Khushi Kumari, a 17-year-old marshal coordinator, every morning instructions are circulated through WhatsApp groups, assigning volunteers to various tasks. If a sudden need arises during the day, coordinators reassign volunteers on the ground. Each team has several heads who work in informal shifts, overseeing both official volunteers and those who spontaneously join in. 

After the police action on July 20, the process also became more selective. Kumari now maintains a register of around 80 volunteers, marking stars next to those the organisers consider........

© newslaundry