Thousands protest in India after clashes, despite Modi assuring action on exams
By Aftab Ahmed, Saurabh Sharma and Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement protested in Delhi on Tuesday, a day after violent clashes with police, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vow to punish those who harmed exam leaks.
More than 5,000 protesters gathered at the Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi after their march to parliament to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ended in violent clashes with police on Monday.
Modi’s comments, reported by a cabinet minister, were his first on the issue since question papers for the national medical college entrance exam were leaked in May.
According to local media reports, the leaks affected 2 million young people and led to the suicide of nearly a dozen students.
Youth anger and protests over exams have become the biggest challenge in the prime minister’s third term.
Delhi Police said around 180 people, including 118 security and police personnel and 60 protesters, were injured in clashes in central Delhi.
The founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a movement that started as an online satire, said more than 150 protesters were receiving treatment in hospital.
Reuters could not independently verify the number of injured after police beat protesters with batons and fired tear gas to push them back.
NEW PROTESTS OUTSIDE MODI’S HOUSE
Several dozen members of India’s main opposition Congress party, including Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka, protested Monday’s crackdown outside Modi’s home on Tuesday.
Television footage showed a protester carrying a poster reading “When voices are beaten, democracy bleeds” and some members of Congress being detained by police.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told MPs of Modi’s ruling alliance that the government took action as soon as it received reports of irregularities in the exams and 13 people were arrested and jailed.
Modi also said that the re-examination was carried out successfully.
“The Prime Minister said that everyone should come together and take stringent steps, punish the culprits and create a foolproof system to ensure that the future of the youth is not jeopardized,” Rijiju said. he said.
PROTESTERS SAID THEY COULD NOT MARCH AGAIN
The CJP movement announced that it would continue its anti-government protests but would not march to parliament for fear of its supporters being beaten again by the police.
The movement, which has been going on for months, has gained the support of millions of young Gen Z Indians who have been demanding Pradhan’s resignation. CJP says the leak of the documents in May is a sign of deep-seated corruption in education.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke apologized to his supporters, especially women, who he said were beaten by male police officers.
Delhi Police said the protesters “displayed unruly, aggressive and violent behavior” and “deliberately violated the prohibitory orders in force”.
The movement was mobilized with the support of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who started a hunger strike on June 28 but was forcibly hospitalized by police on Saturday.
THE COURT ALLOWED THE ACTIVIST TO MOVE TO A PRIVATE HOSPITAL
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court allowed the Magsaysay award winner to be shifted to a private hospital following her husband’s petition alleging illegal detention.
The court decision fulfills one of the protesters’ three demands.
CJP said Health Minister JP Nadda sought time to discuss his demands in the government after a meeting with the two leaders on Monday.
The demands include Wangchuk’s release, Pradhan’s resignation and compensation of 10 million rupees ($104,000) each for nearly a dozen students who died by suicide following the leak.
The CJP’s rise in popularity reflects frustrations among young Indians, including job shortages and exam leaks, which they say are occurring frequently.
(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed, Saurabh Sharma, Francis Mascarenhas, Rajesh Kr Singh, Sakshi Dayal, Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Hritam Mukherjee, Tanvi Mehta and YP Rajesh; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Alexandra Hudson)
