New Delhi: A day after their Parliament march, hundreds of students and supporters returned to Jantar Mantar Tuesday, saying the use of force by police had only strengthened their resolve to continue the agitation.
The protest site remained packed through the afternoon as students, joined by parents and supporters, raised slogans over the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination and reiterated their demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
Many protesters said Monday’s confrontation with the security personnel had failed to deter them and instead drawn more people to the movement.
Delhi University student Sakshi Chanda, who participated in Monday’s march to Parliament, alleged that the police action had only intensified the protest.
The kind of police brutality we witnessed yesterday only strengthened our resolve. We have come back because this movement has been built through the sacrifices of so many. We cannot allow that to go in vain. We will continue until our voices are heard, she said.
Standing beside her, Chanda’s mother said parents had a responsibility to stand with students.
I came here today because this is about the future of our children. If we do not stand with them now, who will They are asking questions about their education and careers, and they deserve to be heard, she said.
Several students at the site said the protest had grown beyond the issue of the alleged paper leak and had become a broader movement for accountability in the education system, even as chants of Dharmendra Pradhan, istifa do (Dharmendra Pradhan, resign) and not an inch backwards echoed across Jantar Mantar.
Ritika Sharma, a postgraduate student, said the protest was about transparency and fairness in competitive exams.
Many of us have spent years preparing for competitive examinations. We are not here for politics; we are here because students deserve transparency and fairness, she said.
The protest also drew participants from outside Delhi.
Aditya Singh, who had travelled from neighbouring Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, claimed the police action had failed to discourage protesters.
We saw barricades, detentions and force yesterday, but none of that has reduced the turnout today. If anything, more people are joining because they feel students are being treated unfairly, he said.
History shows that people in power often forget that when citizens take to the streets to ask questions, it is very hard to silence them, he added.
Monday, protesters participating in the Cockroach Janta Party’s Parliament march said that police used lathis and tear gas to disperse demonstrators after they were stopped near Parliament Street by multiple layers of barricades.
The protesters maintained Tuesday that the agitation at Jantar Mantar would continue until their demands, including the resignation of the Union education minister, were addressed.
