Protests in support of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) ‘Chalo Sansad’ march spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh on Monday (July 20), with demonstrators demanding accountability over alleged NEET paper leak and backing activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Gujarat
In Ahmedabad, police detained some persons as they gathered at Law Garden since they did not have permission for the agitation, officials said.
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Protests were also held in cities like Surat, Junagadh and Bhavnagar, with participants chanting slogans against the government and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, wearing T-shirts in support of CJP and holding banners hailing Wangchuk and his hunger strike.
Some of them also held copies of the Constitution in their hands. “While rapists are roaming scot free, students like us are being jailed,” said a protester as she was taken away by the police.
Maharashtra
The students’ association of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, on Monday said it has extended solidarity to Cockroach Janta Party and activist Sonam Wangchuk in their protests over alleged irregularities in the education sector and exam paper leaks.
Citing the recent leak of the FTII entrance examination paper, the association said exam paper leaks had become a nationwide problem and demanded accountability.
Hundreds of students, youth and senior citizens gathered at Nagpur’s Samvidhan Square, chanting anti-government slogans, demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and vowing to continue their agitation until he steps down.
Protesters expressed outrage over the forcible removal of Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar in the national capital and the lathicharge on students during their march to Parliament.
Students and advocates staged a protest at Kranti Chowk in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar over the alleged irregularities in the education sector and exam paper leaks. One of the participants said she was a NEET aspirant and wanted the government to clarify why it was not ready to hold anyone accountable for the exam paper leak.
Himachal Pradesh
Students associated with outfits in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti resorted to a protest in Shimla, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak. The protesters gathered at Children’s Park and denounced the minister with slogans.
CITU also staged a protest in Solan, in which hundreds of youths, city residents, and various organisations participated. The protesters said the central government is anti-education and anti-youth, and claimed that the education system in the country has fallen into a state of complete disarray.
Bhavika, a NEET aspirant, criticised the recurring paper leaks and re-exams. “The greatest cost of this is being borne by crores of students, youth, and their families,” she said.
The protesters took exception to Pradhan’s silence over the suicide of several students post-NEET paper leaks.
Sikkim
The opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) staged a demonstration at the Namchi Central Park in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led protests in New Delhi against the alleged NEET paper leak.
The SDF’s Namchi district committee said the alleged paper leak in the medical entrance test had severely undermined the credibility of one of the country’s most competitive examinations and unfairly affected thousands of students who had spent years preparing for it.
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The party also condemned the reported use of tear gas and lathi-charge against protesters in Delhi, alleging that the action was aimed at suppressing students exercising their democratic right to seek accountability.
Arunachal Pradesh
Thousands of youths organised a protest rally in Itanagar in support of activist Sonam Wangchuk and demanded stringent action against alleged examination paper leak scams, calling for greater transparency and accountability in the country’s competitive examination system.
Organised by a youth group, the rally began at Akashdeep, a prominent commercial complex, with participants carrying placards and raising slogans in support of Wangchuk.
The protesters alleged that repeated incidents of leaked examination papers have undermined the credibility of competitive tests and eroded the confidence of students and job aspirants who spend years preparing for them.
They have also sought greater accountability in the education system and called for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
(With agency inputs)
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