New Delhi: Protesters participating in the Cockroach Janta Party’s Parliament march Monday refused to disperse despite heavy police barricading, lathicharge and use of tear gas, and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The march, which witnessed participation of students and people from across Delhi, was stopped near Parliament Street, where police had put up multiple layers of barricades.
Many protesters said they had anticipated resistance but were determined to continue their demonstration.
“They tried to stop us multiple times. There was heavy barricading all along the route. We also faced lathicharge and tear gas, but we will not turn back,” said Glory, a Delhi University student who took part in the march.
Several students expressed disappointment with the government’s response to the agitation, saying that their demands went unheard despite weeks of protest.
“A country that does not care about its students is bound to fall,” said a student protester.
Sanskriti Kumar, another Delhi University student, said they would continue to protest until their demands were met.
“All we want is Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. We are not asking for something impossible that the government cannot fulfil. We are not turning around today; if we have come this far, we will see this through till the end,” she said.
Among the crowd was 52-year-old Kaniz Fatima, an alumna of Jamia Millia Islamia who said she had been supporting the protesters at the Jantar Mantar demonstration site since the beginning of the movement, including activists who have been on an indefinite hunger strike for the last three weeks.
“Is this not our country? Do we, as citizens, not have the right to raise questions and challenge situations we do not agree with? Why are they resorting to lathicharge against students who have come here only to demand their rights?” Fatima asked.
Calling the protest a decisive moment, she said, “This is do or die. A lot of people have sacrificed a great deal for us to stand here today. We cannot lose momentum now, or we may never be able to rise again and demand what is rightfully ours.”
For 17-year-old Anshika from Badarpur, the protest was a secret she had kept from her family. She told them she was going to school before joining the gathering to demand Pradhan’s resignation.
However, she said, the protest quickly turned into a confrontation with the police.
“We did not lie to our families and come here so that we could be picked up and detained like criminals,” she said, showing bruises on her hand. She alleged that she was pulled down by her feet and held tightly by two female police personnel.
“When it is time for elections, they come to our homes and ask for votes, but they did not even come to engage in a dialogue over the NEET paper leak,” she said.
“We are only asking for a dialogue. Are we not even allowed to hold a peaceful protest?” she asked.
The protest also saw participation from people who had travelled to the national capital from outside the city.
Kismat, 20, said she travelled overnight from Patna to join the demonstration in Delhi.
The young woman from Bihar’s Vaishali said she had hidden her plan from her family.
“I lied to my family and came here because they would worry about my safety. I did not tell them that I was coming to the protest,” she said.
The protesters reiterated that they would continue their agitation until their demands, including the resignation of the Union Education Minister, were addressed.
PTI
