Students will return after Sonam’s fast is broken, Wangchuk is distancing himself from the demands of Jantar Mantar in the agitation – ..

The voices of politics and protest now seem to be going on different paths on the issues of student movement and paper leak going on at Jantar Mantar in the country’s capital Delhi. There is now a clear difference in the stance of the cockroach Janata Party leaders sitting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and the environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk sitting on fast in a private hospital in Gurugram. While Sonam Wangchuk is preparing to withdraw the cases registered against the students and end her fast as soon as she gets concrete assurance from the government, the cockroach Janata Party and the opposition parties are completely adamant on the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Due to this ideological and strategic distance, the deadlock is deepening from Parliament to the streets.

Sonam Wangchuk’s demands and announcement of withdrawal of fast

Sonam Wangchuk, who has been fasting for 26 days in Gurugram hospital, has made it clear that he will break his fast as soon as he gets official assurance that legal action will not be taken against the protesting students. After the meetings with Union Minister JP Nadda and Dr. Jitendra Singh and the letter sent to the government, Wangchuk has made up his mind to appeal to the students to end the agitation and come to the negotiating table. Their main demands include adequate compensation to the families of victims of NEET paper leak, meaningful debate in Parliament to fix accountability, no legal action against students and consideration of the resignation of the Education Minister. This soft stance of Wangchuk seems to be taking the movement towards a practical solution, due to which the priorities of other organizations of Jantar Mantar seem to be slightly different.

Cockroach: Obstacles and political activity of Janata Party and Opposition

On the other hand, the attitude of the leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party, which is leading the movement at Jantar Mantar, remains quite aggressive. Party founder Abhijeet Deepke and other leaders have made it clear that their struggle will continue until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. Their four major demands include Pradhan’s resignation, compensation of Rs 1 crore each to the victims’ families, withdrawal of legal action against the students and filing of a case against the policemen who resorted to lathi charge. In the Parliament too, all the opposition parties including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are cornering the government on this issue, due to which the proceedings of the Parliament are continuously being disrupted for the last four days and there is pressure on the government.

Way forward and strategic efforts of the government

The government has made it clear that the resignation of the Education Minister will not be accepted at the moment, but high level committees of ministers are continuously active to stop the movement. JP Nadda has proposed talks several times in the last 24 hours and has invited the agitators to his home or office for discussions. With the weekend approaching, the crowd of students from different states of the country is likely to increase further at Jantar Mantar, due to which this protest can become more widespread. If the government succeeds in finding a solution by taking advantage of this difference of opinion between Sonam Wangchuk and the Cockroach Party, then this big student movement in the country’s capital can take a decisive turn in the coming days.