Nadda has assured us of internal talks, says CJP
New Delhi: White clouds of teargas hung over the Parliament, and the insistent chant of slogans echoed from restive youth fighting police batons on an unprecedented Monday of highs and lows. By the end of the day, police vacated Jantar Mantar as the government and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) attempted a rapprochement.
Thousands of angry young people had converged near the Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, only to be pushed back by lathis and teargas shells.
The rallying cry ‘Chalo Sansad’ brought together the youth, transforming the leafy, high-security streets of central Delhi into extraordinary scenes of protest. Carrying placards and the tricolour while shouting slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ ‘Jai Bhim,’ ‘Vande Mataram,’ and ‘Dharmendra Pradhan Istifa Do,’ many sat exactly where they were stopped, causing protests to mushroom across the city.
The crowd included schoolchildren – some in uniform, others wearing cockroach costumes – college students, parents and senior citizens. Following clashes on Monday that left more than 50 police personnel and protesters injured, the New Delhi district saw a massive security response. Sources stated that about 100 people were detained and 65 medico-legal cases were registered at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
The CJP, an organic movement against paper leaks and alleged exam irregularities, started after a comment by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant referring to the youth as “cockroaches”.
Protesters had been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since June 20, gathering traction with a hunger strike by activist Sonam Wangchuk and several youngsters.
Exactly a month later, the main stage at Jantar Mantar was dismantled and three young activists called off their fast unto death. However, hundreds of protesters remained, undeterred by rain, milling around the bylanes of Jantar Mantar, Connaught Place’s Central Park and outside metro stations.
While the CJP stated that the protest would continue peacefully, reports of vandalism emerged, with videos showing stones on the road in Connaught Place and crowds damaging parked vehicles.
Founder of CJP Abhijeet Dipke, who took up the fast after Wangchuk was forcibly removed following a 21-day hunger strike, was also picked up from the spot. Dipke and others, including Wangchuk’s winter-hardened ally and wife Gitanjali Angmo, moved to the nearby Kerala House where they continued their sit-in.
Meanwhile, a two-member CJP delegation met Union Health Minister J P Nadda in an effort to resolve the escalating crisis. The CJP said Nadda assured them that he would hold internal talks and requested time to align with the government leadership on the CJP’s demands: the immediate release of Wangchuk, Pradhan’s resignation, and Rs 1 crore compensation for all NEET aspirants who committed suicide.
Nadda later posted on X that discussions held in a cordial atmosphere had been ongoing since 11.50 am following a proposal from the protesters, whom he requested to end the sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy.
A few kilometres away from ground zero of the action, Wangchuk, who was admitted at Safdarjung Hospital, said he would continue fasting until youth leaders were allowed to meet MPs in Parliament or leaders came to meet him in the hospital.
The issue echoed inside Parliament, where both Houses met for the first time since the protests began and were repeatedly adjourned amid an uproar by opposition members.
Several political leaders spoke out, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “most anti-youth” PM in the country’s history, accusing the government of not just failing the youth but pouncing on them.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal also slammed the use of force, demanding that the Centre listen to the youth instead of ordering lathi charges. AAP leaders Atishi and Manish Sisodia, CPM’s M A Baby and Brinda Karat, and Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav joined the protest at Parliament Street, while actor Shabana Azmi emphasised their constitutional right to a peaceful, non-violent march.
Away from the celebrity and politician speak, the youth gave vent to their angst. Seventeen-year-old Anshika lied to her family about going to school to join the march to Parliament, showing bruises on her hand after being pulled down by women police personnel while trying to climb over barricades.
