More than 50 detained after reservation-policy protest at Jantar Mantar

More than 50 people were detained after a reservation-policy protest at Jantar Mantar continued beyond its permitted 4pm end time on Friday, Delhi Police said.

Hundreds had gathered during the day for the Reservation Hatao Andolan, which called for changes to India’s reservation system. Ajeet Bharti, a YouTuber who addressed the gathering, urged the government to publish a white paper on reservations and hold talks with protesters. He also raised demands for quota within quota, minimum marks for educational admissions and provisions for Economically Weaker Sections.

Police said the situation escalated around 7.30pm when several people remained at the site and raised slogans despite requests to disperse. Additional police personnel and the Rapid Action Force were deployed. Most demonstrators left after the protest ended, police said, but those who remained were detained.

Jantar Mantar was later cleared. Protesters have asked the government to indicate whether it is willing to hold sit-down talks on their demands.