There was an uneasy calm at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, after members and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) reclaimed the site following clashes with police during an attempted march to Parliament called the “Chalo Sansad” protest. Delhi Police have filed five FIRs and opened an investigation into the violence that accompanied Monday’s demonstrations, which saw thousands of students take to the streets and led to scenes of confrontation and disorder.
According to PTI, protesters camped at Jantar Mantar through the night despite rain, a power outage at the site and tight security deployments. The protests quickly became a trending topic online, generating thousands of videos and reels that drew intense public attention and commentary.
Many of those visuals, however, have been found to be misleading. A widely shared clip claiming that former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams visited Jantar Mantar is not from the Delhi protest. Analysis shows the footage was shot at the Kerala Literature Festival in January and includes clear identifiers — a KLF badge on Williams and Kerala Police insignia on accompanying officers — that place the video in Kerala, not Delhi.
A viral video purporting to show Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay at Jantar Mantar likewise misrepresents its context. The footage matches images of Vijay traveling to collect a certificate at Loyola College, Chennai, on May 4, 2026, including the same vehicle, driver and clothing, indicating the clip predates the Delhi protests.
Claims that actor Naseeruddin Shah joined protesters at Jantar Mantar have also been debunked. The original, uncropped footage shows Shah at a theatre event in Mumbai; the cropped version circulating online omits location cues and creates a false impression of his presence in Delhi.
Another circulating video alleged CJP supporters pelted stones at India’s newly launched hydrogen train. Northern Railway has clarified the clip is old and shows a train hauled by a WAG-12 locomotive, not the hydrogen service, and said the hydrogen train is operating on schedule.
Reports that a girl died during the Jantar Mantar protests are false, India’s government fact-checker has said, noting that no protest-related deaths have been registered. The proliferation of doctored, misattributed and out-of-context clips amid the demonstrations has complicated public understanding at a moment when police inquiries and official statements are ongoing.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/cjp-protest-jantar-mantar-delhi-sunita-williams-naseeruddin-shah-videos-misinformation-fact-check-14032897.html
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Publish Date: 2026-07-21 13:15:00
