New Delhi, Jul 22: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday made it clear it will hold talks with the government only at a neutral venue as the student protests over the paper leak issue spread to several states including Bihar, where police used tear gas shells, water cannons and batons to prevent a march to the governor’s house.
Jantar Mantar, the epicentre of the protests that began on June 20 demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET question paper leak and other examination irregularities, saw the CJP, led by its founder Abhijeet Dipke, continuing with its agitation and joined by hundreds of people, mostly students.
The sit-in witnessed a steady stream of new arrivals. Many walked into the protest site with backpacks, rolled-up banners and small bags. Some sat on the road listening to speeches from the stage, while others gathered near police barricades, raising slogans and holding placards.
Police said there was stone-pelting by some protesters at Jantar Mantar in the evening in which assistant commissioner Jai Prakash sustained a forehead injury.
The day also saw several appeals being made to activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has become the face of the agitation, to end his indefinite hunger strike.
He said he would do so only if the government gives an unequivocal assurance that no punitive or retaliatory action would be taken against students and youth who participated in the protests.
The CJP appealed to him to end his hunger strike, saying his sacrifice has inspired students across the country. It also assured him that the agitation would continue until its demands were met.
A delegation of MPs, including Vivek Tankha (Cong), Sagarika Ghose (TMC) and John Brittas (CPI-M), met Wangchuk and his wife Gitanjali J Angmo at the hospital in Gurugram and urged him to end his fast, saying the struggle for a fair and transparent examination system had become a national cause.
Addressing a press briefing at the protest site, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said police informed them this morning that Union minister JP Nadda wanted to hold discussions and invited them to his residence.
“We refused to go to anyone’s house or office. The people’s court is here. Ministers should come among the people. If they want to talk, the talks should be held at Jantar Mantar,” he said.
Das, however, said the CJP remained open to dialogue and was willing to consider a neutral venue near the protest site if there were security concerns.
“We are educated people. If there are security concerns at Jantar Mantar, we can meet at a neutral place nearby. We have always said we are ready for talks. It would be good if the issue is resolved through dialogue,” he said.
“We will also seek a sovereign guarantee from the government that no fresh FIRs are filed or punitive action is taken against any peaceful protester associated with this movement,” he said.
A senior government functionary later said Pradhan is likely to remain in the Cabinet as the top hierarchy of the government is convinced that he cannot be blamed for the leak of the examination papers. The functionary also said the government is ready for serious engagement with the protesters and suggested that no one should be rigid about the “venue” of the meeting as insisted by the CJP. According to Das, the agitation has spread beyond Delhi, with demonstrations taking place in several parts of the country, including Bihar, Goa, Mumbai and Rajasthan, and described it as an “organic” nationwide movement.
Dipke put out a post on X, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence.
“It’s Day 25 of Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike. The PM is yet to break his silence,” Dipke wrote.
“Politics is not just about doing election rallies and winning elections. It’s about being accountable and answerable to people,” he said, asking why the prime minister had not reached out to Wangchuk, why police had acted “so brutally” against protesting students and why Pradhan continued in office despite the controversy surrounding alleged examination irregularities.
Seventeen metro stations were temporarily shut during the day due to security reasons, leaving hundreds of office-goers, students and other commuters stranded for hours, forcing many to change routes midway, exit at unfamiliar stations and scramble for alternative transport during the morning rush. These were opened in the evening.
Wangchuk joined the CJP-led agitation at Jantar Mantar on June 28 and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of the students’ demands. He was shifted from Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital following a Delhi High Court order and has continued his fast from there.
In Bihar, police said protesters in Patna during their Lok Bhavan march moved dangerously close to vital installations, prompting the administration to order sealing of the assembly premises, situated a few hundred metres away.
The incident left members of both houses of the legislature who were attending the Monsoon session, locked inside.
Trouble was brewing since 11 am soon after a large number of student activists, expressing solidarity with the CJP’s stir in the national capital, gathered at the historic Gandhi Maidan.
A massive traffic jam was seen at Dak Bungalow crossing, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the state capital, where the police had put up barricades to thwart the onward march, and fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathi charge when the students refused to withdraw.
The agitators were finally stopped a couple of hundred metres away from the Lok Bhawan, which is situated right across the street from the chief minister’s residence.
Protests also escalated across Tamil Nadu, with various organisations demanding the abolition of NEET and the immediate resignation of Pradhan.
Members of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged an agitation in Coimbatore to express solidarity with students protesting in New Delhi.
Two pleas alleging excessive use of force against protesters came up for hearing in the Delhi High Court, which sought responses from the Centre and the city police. It also directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records in relation to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography and gave them four weeks to file their counter affidavits.
The matter also came up in the Supreme Court which declined a request for urgent listing of a plea challenging the police action against the students. (PTI)
