Miles away from home: Why did young people march to Delhi?

On 8 October 2026, Nasreen Fatima travelled from her home in Uttar Pradesh towards Delhi only to join the protests, but soon the security forces were about to march through the streets and strict restrictions were to be imposed in the capital city.

“Our parents are not educated. They don’t understand terms like SIR, and explaining to them is not easy. Our parents worked very hard, so we could study and live a different life than theirs. But when your existence and identity are at stake, there is no fun in building a life,” said Fatima, who was part of the protests near Connaught Place area of Central Delhi on 10 October.

Across India, youngsters are travelling from far-off cities and villages to Delhi against all odds, arguing that it is to save democracy. The Election Commission of India is currently carrying out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise across the country in multiple phases; the exercise was rolled out to ensure the accuracy of voter lists. Since its introduction, opposition parties, citizens and several media reports have been critical of how many eligible voters have been deleted from the electoral roll.

On 23 September 2026, a national daily’s investigative report highlighted how, even within the three-member Election Commission (EC), objections were repeatedly raised by two of the commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Soon afterwards, people started raising serious doubts regarding the functioning of the commission. This prompted the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) – a political pressure group, as they call it, led by youth – to announce another strike, demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down.

Youngsters across the country once again started to mobilise over the internet, and on 2 October, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke urged youngsters to reach Jantar-Mantar in Delhi on 10 October. But unlike last time, the police didn’t grant permission for the protest. Restrictions were announced, roads were barricaded, train services were suspended, and the internet was shut down around the venue.

Came from Bihar, got detained in Delhi

In June, when CJP led the protests against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, forcing him to step down, Nasir Amin had just joined the Rapido company as a cab driver. “I was fed up with dropping people throughout the day. This unemployment crisis has turned the lives of educated people like me upside down,” he said.

On 7 October, when CJP announced another major protest, Amin travelled all the way from Nagaon, Assam, to join the protests, but not against the CEC. He argues the protests should now be against the government.

Amin had never thought of becoming a cab driver after spending years in a pharmacy college. Amin always thought of becoming a doctor. After scoring 475 points out of the total 720 in India’s premier medical examination (NEET), he failed to secure a government seat. Due to limited financial resources at home, he couldn’t join a private medical college, like many of his friends.

He completed his graduation in pharmacy in 2025 and got a job in one of the private pharmacy companies in Assam. But the monthly salary was meagre. “I wanted to wear a white coat no matter what, but my life now revolves around dropping off people at different locations. My father is a farmer in Assam’s Nagaon district. Due to his old age, I had to leave everything and find a decent-earning job,” said Amin, while catching his breath near the Janpath area of Central Delhi on 10 October.

Across India, irregularities in selection processes for different government jobs and paper leaks have often been in the news. Even the CJP was formed after the medical test (NEET) paper was leaked last May. Javed Ansari is someone who has witnessed this closely, as his two school friends from Bihar were victims of paper leaks in the Assistant Election Development Officer (AEDO) examination.

“My friends had studied hard for these exams, but all of their efforts went in vain. The students appearing in these exams belong to poor families, so the government doesn’t care,” he said.

“I am here trying to hide from the police because I really can’t afford to get arrested. I have a family back in Bihar, who completely rely on my earnings. My friends had also travelled from Bihar, but ended up getting detained,” said Ansari, while repeatedly trying to call one of his detained friends.

Truck driver travels from Odisha to join protests

Mehr Pasricha, a Harvard Kennedy scholar and currently the head of CJP’s policy division, spoke to The Decifer, arguing how India’s youth have realised now that something “is really wrong with the country,” so they are now out on the streets to save the country.

“The government needs to realise that youngsters of this country are fed up with their governance model. They are asking for a total overhaul of the governance and development model. The ongoing brutality against the students is not something that is going to scare these youngsters,” she said.

Many youngsters travelling from different states of India were detained by police across different railway stations in the country. Those who arrived in the early hours of 10 October and somehow managed to reach nearby areas of Jantar Mantar were detained too.

Mohit Singh, 19, had left his home in Haryana around 3am on 10 October hoping the police wouldn’t be active so early. “I didn’t even have enough money to book a cheap hotel room, so I stopped at Kashmere Gate around 6am and slept for the next two hours there only. Then I began to move towards Jantar Mantar, avoiding police check posts and barricades. My head is aching like hell,” said Singh, adding he hadn’t eaten anything since morning except one banana.

Like Singh, Roshan Kumar, 28, came all the way from Odisha to join the protests. Kumar believes that one can no longer win elections by creating a Hindu-Muslim divide in the country.

“This country belongs to every faith, colour, creed and caste,” said Kumar, who works as a truck driver back in Odisha. Despite losing work days, he argues people need to come out of their houses and “participate in protests and save India and its democracy.”