New Delhi: The day was humid, the crowd was only around 300 to 500 people strong. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) sought permission from the Parliament Street police station this morning, although the rulebook states that permissions need to be applied ten days prior to any protest at Jantar Mantar.CJP members at Jantar Mantar ahead of founder Abhijeet Dipke’s arrival.Most attendees were young, full of anxiety and not carrying any political baggage. Fawzan, who has worked in Noida for an IT company for the last six years, came not for himself but for the next generation, saying it needs to have a clean education system.Fathima from Kargil, who is an engineering student too, said: ‘I got into engineering and we have around 300 more like me studying in Delhi. We come from remote Kargil and suddenly if papers get leaked, the morale of students sitting for the exam breaks … many die by suicide too’. She said she is in solidarity with all those who are stuck in what she called a ‘wrecked education system’.Two young women at the protest site.Two more young women stand in front of a cockroach-masked protester.Akshay and his friends came from Jaipur. He said, ‘I voted for the BJP but that doesn’t mean the party can do whatever it wants … Won’t Modi ji commit to think for the people and the youth? If the youth is not heard, then the future of this country is in danger’.A man holds up a placard saying ‘we’ve heard enough promises, now get to work’.Two youths bear CJP promotional material.CJP members accused the media of being biased, while the Delhi police alongside other agencies including the Rapid Action Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Intelligence Bureau and Crime Branch and their senior officers kept a vigil from both entries to Jantar Mantar, checking every article, even water.When I asked a security official why they were checking bottles and even asking to have a sip, the officer said it could be a harmful chemical and that nefarious elements are there to stoke tensions.Numerous mobile phones were pickpocketed (including my own), and many were even returned as the Delhi police worked all around to secure the perimeter.Protesters hold up posters; the one in the middle has the words ‘A government of paper leaks, this one’ across the BJP’s electoral symbol.‘We want justice, not silence,’ reads this poster bearing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s headshot.The CJP organised Saturday’s protest to demand Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation in the wake of the NEET-UG paper leak and the chaotic rollout of the CBSE’s on-screen marking system.A protester raises his fist.Several protesters turned up with copies of the Constitution.A reporter interviews a protest attendee.An older man holds up a placard reading ‘Dharmendra Pradhan, submit your resignation‘.Given that one expected the crowd to be much larger, the protest was a low-key event, with many CJP members but more media and police personnel. The outfit’s founder Abhijeet Dipke – who arrived in Delhi from Boston on Saturday – and inventor-activist Sonam Wangchuk were able to pull crowds, but the question that remains is how forcefully a message has been sent to the government over the issue the CJP has been floated.CJP founder Dipke addresses the crowd at Jantar Mantar.A young woman at the protest site.A man waves the Indian flag at the protest site.All photos by Shome Basu.This story was updated at 10:20 pm on June 6.