Photo credit: Aljazeera
Indian police baton-charged hundreds of protesting students and activists on Monday to prevent them from launching a march to the parliament.
The Independent reports that the protesters are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Daharmendra Pradhan over a series of botched national exams.
Ahead of the scheduled march, hundreds of people thronged Jantar Mantar in the national capital, Delhi, waving the Indian flag and shouting slogans against the education minister as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Quit, quit,” they chanted in Hindi. “Dharmendra Pradhan quit. Narendra Modi quit.”
The march coincides with the start of the parliament’s monsoon session, posing a challenge to the Modi government.
The protest was called by the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth-led movement seeking reforms in the education system following the alleged leak of the paper for the national medical entrance exam that affected around 2.3 million students earlier this year.
The movement, which began in May and rapidly garnered wide support online, was galvanized after police forcibly moved hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk to the hospital on Saturday, prompting thousands of supporters to reach Jantar Mantar.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and his supporters started a sit-in at Jantar Mantar last month to press their demand for Mr Pradhan’s resignation.
On 28 June, they were joined by Mr Wangchuk, an innovator and education reformer, who launched an indefinite hunger strike at the site.
Following the forcible removal of Mr Wangchuk, Mr Dpike launched an indefinite fast of his own on Saturday..
On Sunday, police denied the protesters permission for the march and banned gatherings of five or more people in the New Delhi district housing the parliament.
On Monday morning, hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in the area, threatening a stand-off as the protesters said they were determined to go ahead with the march.
At Jantar Mantar, meanwhile, police charged at the protesters with batons.
They also closed five metro rail stations servicing the area to prevent the protest from swelling.
In response, the CJP asked its supporters to “remain calm”.
In a handwritten note from the hospital that was posted on social media on Monday, Mr Wangchuk said he would end his fast if the government took accountability for recent failures in the education system and the paper leaks, or if the protesters were allowed to reach the parliament and assured that their issues will be discussed by the lawmakers.
The rise of the CJP reflects growing frustration among India’s youth over unemployment and frequent examination paper leaks, analysts say.
