The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday called a post on X “misleading” for attributing remarks about the alleged foreign funding of the recent CJP protests to its spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, while misrepresenting the statement he actually made at the Ministry’s biweekly media briefing.
In a post on X, the MEA Fact Check unit said, “The post is misleading and misrepresents the statement of the Spokesperson.”
The clarification came in response to a viral X post claiming that the MEA spokesperson had said, “I have been asked about the funding of the CJP protest many a time. I want to say that our intelligence & investigation reveals there is no Foreign funding in it.”
Rejecting the claim, the MEA Fact Check account referred to the spokesperson’s actual response given at the biweekly media briefing on Friday.
“Madhu, regarding the point you raised about allegations of foreign funding and other such claims in connection with the ongoing protests, I would like to say that I do not have any information on this matter to share with you at this time,” the spokesperson had said.
The MEA stated that the viral post misrepresented the spokesperson’s remarks by attributing a statement that was never made, and reiterated that the official response was confined to noting that no information was available to share on the matter at the time.
A 37-day agitation concluded with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepping down on Saturday afternoon. What began as a satirical social media account in the wake of CJI Surya Kant’s remarks, the Cockroach Janata Party called off its demonstration at Jantar Mantar after securing assurances from the government on its demands.
Dharmendra Pradhan quit the Council of Ministers amid nationwide protests over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
The usually barren Jantar Mantar protest site saw significant activity as youth and students joined the CJP-led demonstration, carrying inventive banners and employing Gen Z slang. After more than a week of protest, the movement gained fresh momentum when Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk joined and emerged as its face through his 26-day hunger strike.
Six student union leaders also undertook a hunger strike alongside Wangchuk. Three of them were reportedly hospitalised, while the remaining three ended their fast on July 20.
Jantar Mantar drew large crowds after Delhi Police moved Wangchuk from the protest site to Safdarjung Hospital; he was later transferred to a private hospital in Gurugram on the Delhi High Court’s orders.
The agitation reached its peak on July 20 with the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march, which faced police action against the protesters. The police action drew criticism from the opposition, while the police maintained that the protest had turned violent.
