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“Those guys in civilian clothes, who you (protestors) were claiming to be goons, were actual police officers, but the real goons have just arrived now."
These are the words of Swatantra Bhardwaj, a Hindutva influencer whose video has garnered over 295,000 likes. He is part of a section of the Hindu Right which has been posting about coming to Delhi and disrupting the students protests currently on-going at Jantar Mantar.
Their warnings and threats have added a volatile layer to the demonstrations against national examination paper leaks.
This has also sparked fears of the protest being turned unruly with their presence. Several self-proclaimed right-wing groups, individual activists, and Hindutva social media influencers have begun gathering near the protest area, engaging in on-ground confrontations and issuing online calls.
Most of their videos aim to villify the protestors. Labeling the student movement as “anti-national”, “foreign-funded”, and driven by “jihadi elements”, several Hindutva influencers have uploaded widely circulated videos requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government to allow them to “join the Delhi Police for a day” so that they can “show the protesters their place”.