‘Now or never’: Students defy Delhi lockdown to march on India’s parliament
After two days of preparations, 18-year-old Anshuka Ruth Das set out early on Monday with a mission: To reach the Jantar Mantar protest site in
After two days of preparations, 18-year-old Anshuka Ruth Das set out early on Monday with a mission: To reach the Jantar Mantar protest site in the heart of India’s capital, New Delhi. Joined by a group of friends, the student from Gurugram carried placards hidden inside a paper bag demanding sweeping reforms to India’s education system and an end to alleged corruption in national examinations. The young women were among the thousands who answered the call of the Cockroach Janta Party, or Cockroach People’s Party (CJP), a new youth-led movement that has emerged as a major challenge to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to march to India’s parliament. “We are here for those kids who died by suicide,” said Das, referring to reports that 12 students took their own lives since a paper leak scandal earlier this year. India’s Eligibility cum Entrance Test is a mandatory national-level screening test, based on which hundreds of public medical colleges across the country enroll students for various undergraduate medical courses. Some two million aspirants take the test annually. But this year, the exam was dogged by leak allegations. When the government confirmed what millions had feared, the students – many exhausted from months of intense preparations – were forced to undergo retests. The scandal rocked the country and coincided with the emergence of the CJP. Originally a parody account on social media mocking the remarks of a judge comparing unemployed youth to “cockroaches”, the movement struck a chord with many across India. Its followers on social media swelled into the millions in a matter of weeks, with the speed of its soaring popularity leaving even its own founders stunned.
Leader Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Boston University graduate from Maharashtra state, returned to India last month to steer the CPJ more proactively. Alongside mobilising supporters through sit-ins and planning further political action, Dipke and his colleagues joined the student aspirants’ demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “We wanted to be part of this movement. We want accountability,” said Das. “There are systems in place that cannot get us a good seat in college or good marks. I told my mother that it is my right to protest. We need to be here, else we will not get this chance again.” With the protesters at the Jantar Mantar, many of whom had gathered overnight, expected to march towards parliament, authorities imposed extensive security measures across central New Delhi. Metro stations were shut, roads were barricaded and internet access restricted. “The protest site has already run out of space, and this can lead to an untoward situation,” said Sachin Sharma, Delhi’s deputy commissioner of police, urging demonstrators to go home. But as the march went on, police were seen using batons and firing tear gas to disperse CPJ supporters. Several protesters were dragged into police vans, with some sticking their heads out through the windows to show their bloodied faces. “The protest was peaceful. But suddenly people started running in panic after a lathi charge,” said Mohammad Anis, a 26-year-old management graduate from Bihar, using the Hindi word for a baton. “Many protesters were beaten during the chaos, and my arm and hand were injured.
The BriefWire