On August 21, hundreds of protesters gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar under the ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ banner, opposing caste-based reservations.
They demanded that economic criteria replace caste as the basis for affirmative action and called for measures such as creamy-layer provisions. The protest was mobilised largely through social media. Delhi Police, which said permission had not been granted, detained several protesters amid heightened security.
In the above context, an image has gone viral on social media in which stray dogs are sleeping on mattresses on a carpet with barricades of Delhi Police in the background. The image suggests that it is of a protest site.
The image is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows the situation of ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, claiming it was empty since no one attended the protest.
A social media user shared the image with a caption that reads, “Day 2 of Reservation Hatao Andolan.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral image is from July 26. It showed the scene at Jantar Mantar after Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) called off their protest.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that a similar image was shared by the Instagram page of Live Hindustan on July 26. In this image, we can see the same stray dog sleeping on a black and white checkered mattress with the barricade of Delhi police in the background.
The image is shared with a caption suggesting that it is the scene of Jantar Mantar after CJP called off the protest.
The caption associated with the image reads, “After the end of CJP’s protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, Congress Service Dal workers conducted a cleanliness campaign. Activists cleaned the campus by removing garbage and other materials spread at the protest site. During the campaign, the members of the service team also gave the message of maintaining cleanliness.”
We further found that the same image was also shared by Reuters on July 26 with a caption that reads, “A View of the protest site at Jantar Mantar after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) calls off its agitation following the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 26, 2026 in New Delhi, India. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its 36-day agitation over the NEET issue after the Centre accepted all of its key demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the withdrawal of FIRs registered against protesters.”
Further, the image was also shared by The Hindustan Times on July 26, with a caption that reads, “A view of Jantar Mantar after the conclusion of the CJP protest. Congress Seva Dal workers participated in a cleaning drive at the site in New Delhi on Sunday.”
Therefore, we can ascertain that the viral image is old and has no relation with the recent anti-reservation protest.
The viral claim is false.
What was the CJP protest?
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by Abhijeet Dipke, launched a 37-day protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over alleged NEET paper leaks and examination irregularities. Protesters demanded accountability and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The agitation was called off on July 25 after Pradhan resigned and the Centre agreed to several demands, including withdrawing cases against protesters and compensating affected families.
