New Delhi: Student and youth organisations said on Monday (June 8) that an alleged violent attack by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed miscreants during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday will not deter their movement against educational injustice and examination scams. In statements issued on Sunday (June 7), student leaders said they were raising the voice of all students, including those facing the threat of further marginalisation in the country’s education system through their protest.RSS-backed miscreants assault protestersThe All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) jointly issued a press statement strongly condemning the assault on protesters, saying they were peacefully demanding the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in the wake of repeated paper leaks and CBSE’s recent OSM fiasco.The attackers allegedly sprayed “cockroach spray” and raised slogans of “RSS zindabad (Long Live RSS),” and harassed protesters who had been raising slogans of “Jai Bhim,” “Jai Bhagat Singh,” “Jai Phule,” “Jai Periyar,” “Jai Birsa,” “Jai Bharat” and “Jai Samvidhan” – slogans celebrating the first law minister Dr B.R. Ambedkar, freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, social reformer Joytiba Phule, founder of the Self-Respect Movement Periyar Ramaswamy, tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, India and the Constitution of the country.AISF activist from Maharashtra Saee Ahire, senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja and National Federation of Indian Women general secretary Nisha Singh Sidhu were among those injured during the alleged attack.Also read: ‘We’re an Electoral Autocracy’: Meet the Cockroaches at the First Cockroach Janta Party Protest“I came to the protest believing in the constitution of India and the democratic right to raise my voice on issues affecting students,” said Ahire. “What happened was completely unexpected. We were peacefully protesting when RSS goons attacked us. Despite the attack, the police did not intervene to protect the protesters,” they added. As of the time of the press statement, no arrests have been made despite complaints being filed immediately after the incident.Condemnation of the attackAIYF national secretary Harish Bala said the miscreants “could not tolerate” the constitutional and Ambedkarite slogans being raised by the protesters. “AISF and AIYF will continue to take part in and strengthen the movement against paper leaks and mismanagement of examinations,” Bala said.AISF national president Viraaj Devang said the assault evidenced a deeper “desperation” of forces that cannot bear “democratic resistance against educational injustice and growing public anger over repeated examination scandals”.The activsits urged students to remain vigilant against attempts to infiltrate and disrupt the CJP’s movement demanding resignation of the minister, and they warned that the attack by RSS members was designed to divert attention from the real issues: paper leaks, coaching “mafias” and the marginalisation of students from economically weaker backgrounds.“The focus must remain on the issues of examination scams, educational injustice and the future of millions of students, rather than allowing disruptive forces to divert the movement from its objectives,” Devang said.CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam called for branch-level demonstrations in Kerala in response to the attack. Viswam also alleged that the central government was trying to suppress dissent instead of taking action against the education minister and said such actions would not be forgiven by the public, reported PTI.AISF and AIYF have called for strict action against the miscreants, asserting that their fight is not against one person but against injustice itself. The protestThe Jantar Mantar gathering, the first major protest at the site since the wrestlers’ protest in 2023, was also the first offline action organised by CJP, which started out as a satirical social media movement that, many observers say, may also become a political phenomenon, having rapidly amassed millions of followers.The first gathering drew students, parents, doctors, lawyers, teachers and others keen to voice their disenchantment against the education system and other infirmities.The protest came in response to social media calls by Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP’s founder, who came to India on Saturday (June 6) from the United States. His Jantar Mantar protest was supported by the prominent climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk.Also read: In Photos | ‘Tumse Na Ho Payega’: At Jantar Mantar, CJP Demands Minister Pradhan’s Resignation“We are an electoral autocracy. There is anger against the government. If they call us names like anti-national urban naxal we will have no way but to protest. This protest is the outpouring of the frustration of youngsters,” said Jaswant, a lawyer, [PLEASE ADD To WHOM HE SAID THIS AND WHERE].Another protester said the youth was frustrated with repeated missteps of the education system and was seeking accountability from the government. Another protester told The Wire that people had come to Jantar Manter to oppose the “exploitation” of youth and students in the country.Regarding the attack, a mother of a student who was participating in the protest, told The Wire that a group of men shouting “RSS Zindabad” approached the crowd, where multiple women and students were standing. As she was trying to persuade the miscreants to move back, so as to not hurt the women standing behind them, the group started to shove people to the ground, injuring her and several others.She added that it was the second time the group had attempted to assault protesters within half an hour. Despite the police stopping them, the group returned with “full preparation” to attack the peaceful protesters, she said.Another protester, who was injured during the attack, said that “RSS goons suddenly attacked them” and it was ultimately protesters who protected each other from the assault. “If they hadn’t been there, we don’t know what would have happened. Even though the police was nearby, no one else stepped in to help,” they added while speaking to The Wire’s Noorail Khan.The RSS-led group was reportedly harassing people for “raising anti-national slogans and speaking in support of Sharjeel Imam”, a student-activist arrested by Delhi Police for alleged involvement in organising the 2020 anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. Imam was granted a 10-day interim bail in March 2026 after being in custody for six years.The protesters said that if chanting “Jai Samvidhan” (Long Live the Constitution) was anti-national, what slogan should they be raising instead?CJP has announced that Union minister Pradhan has “seven days to resign” before the protests are taken nationwide. Additionally, student groups have said the violence at Jantar Mantar has only strengthened their resolve to fight against the country’s failing education system.