Women Lead Solidarity Protest At Dharna Chowk In Hyderabad
Hyderabad: While women are leading protest movements across the country, Hyderabad also witnessed a distinctive women-led solidarity protest as the Telangana Women and Transgender Organizations (JAC) held a six-hour protest at Indira Park, Dharna Chowk, in support of the Jantar Mantar agitation on Thursday.
Women and transgender activists in Hyderabad put forward the same demands at Dharna Chowk, where they demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and accountability for alleged exam irregularities and police action against protesters.
“Generation Z is challenging patriarchy,” said activist K. Sajaya. “The sight of young women taking charge of protests, confronting police and demanding political space challenges long-held assumptions about who leads popular movements,” he said.
This change was also visible among those who had never been in a protest area before. Two doctors wearing caps and hoodies arrived, careful not to reveal their identities. Both said this was their first show.
“I came without telling my parents. If they find out, there will be chaos,” one of them said. “I want to learn more about where other protests will be held and I want to participate.”
As well as newcomers, there were also people moving from one show to another throughout the week. Amit, who attended the students’ solidarity meeting at Osmania University the day before, said that hope continues to bring him back to the streets.
“What brings me back is the hope that the system will change and that there will be better days,” he said, adding, “A large protest is necessary, but these smaller protests are also important. People have time constraints and other responsibilities, and this allows them to participate whenever they can. It is a good way to show solidarity instead of waiting only for one big protest.”
Some participants called for a broader overhaul of the education system and linked the alleged document leaks to the growth of corporate educational institutions.
Rakesh, Telangana state joint secretary of Arunodaya Cultural Federation, said he regularly participates in protests and cultural programmes: “The protest may have started as a CJP movement, but its demands are not limited to CJP. These concern youth across the country.”
He argued that the paper leaks were part of a larger problem. “We continue to protest against paper leaks, including the NEET paper leak, but we must also oppose saffronization and privatization of education.”
Amit praised young cultural activists like Rakesh, who he said are working to keep Telangana’s protest tradition alive. Rakesh placed the current demonstrations in a much longer history that includes resistance to feudal rule, the Telangana armed struggle and the statehood movement.
“Wherever there is a movement, there is usually some protest in Hyderabad to express solidarity,” he said. Rakesh said young protesters once dismissed these insults as “cockroaches” responding to them with their persistence. “They are not cockroaches, they have become tigers and they are roaring at those in power.”
