New Delhi: White clouds of teargas over Parliament House, the insistent chant of slogans from restive young fighting police batons and, by the end of the day, police vacating Jantar Mantar as the government and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) tried for rapprochement.
It was an unprecedented Monday of highs and lows as thousands of young and angry people converged near Parliament on the first day of the Monsoon session to push for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, only to be pushed back by lathis and teargas shells.
‘Chalo Sansad’ (Let’s go to Parliament) was the rallying cry bringing together the youth who transformed the leafy, high-security streets of central Delhi into extraordinary scenes of protests.
Carrying placards and the tricolour, shouting slogans, such as ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Jai Bhim’, ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Dharmendra Pradhan Istifa Do’, many just sat where they were stopped, leading to the protests mushrooming in multiple places across the city.
The crowd included schoolchildren, college students, parents and senior citizens. Some came in uniforms, while others wore cockroach costumes.
As the Delhi Police cracked down on the protesters, the CJP alleged brutality and accused the security personnel of using excessive force against protesters during its ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, alleging that several students were injured and Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, was pushed around.
Police, however, denied the allegation that Angmo was assaulted as ‘completely false and misleading’. They claimed that ‘no individuals were subjected to targeted assault’.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das alleged that pellet guns were used on the protesters and shared a video of a man allegedly injured by pellets, with several small injury marks visible on his face, neck and chest. The Delhi Police has not commented on the allegations yet.
In a statement, police accused the protesters of attacking security personnel with stones and other objects, attempting to breach barricades and vandalising government property.
They claimed that more than 118 police personnel sustained injuries, while the number of injured protesters was 60.
Several commuters were stranded inside nearby metro stations after access was restricted and station gates were closed as a precautionary measure
The CJP, an organic movement against paper leaks and alleged irregularities in the examination system that started with a comment from Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, referring to youngsters as ‘cockroaches’, has been sitting at Jantar Mantar since June 20. The protest gathered traction as activist Wangchuk and a group of students from the Left-affiliated AISA joined the hunger strike.
The protest, which took an ugly and violent turn, will continue peacefully, the CJP said in a statement.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who took up the fast after Wangchuk was forcibly removed from Jantar Mantar after 21 days of forgoing food, was also picked up from the place.
Dipke and others, including Angmo, moved to Kerala House close by. Later, they moved back to the protest stage, which remained intact even as the tents put up by the protesters at the venue were dismantled. The electricity connection to the area was also disrupted, the protesters said.
Earlier in the day, a two-member CJP delegation met Union Health Minister JP Nadda in an effort to resolve the escalating crisis.
The CJP said Nadda has assured them that he would hold internal talks and requested for time to align with the government leadership on the CJP's demands -- the immediate release of Wangchuk, Pradhan's resignation and Rs 1 crore compensation each for the NEET aspirants who have committed suicide.
Nadda, in a post on X, said the proposal for talks came from the protesters, while the CJP said the government reached out to them.
Official sources said talks within the government on the CJP protest are underway.
A closed-door meeting was held in Home Minister Amit Shah's room in the Parliament building, which was attended by Pradhan, Nadda, Piyush Goyal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Nabin and some other senior leaders of the ruling party, the sources said.
While there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting, many said it showed the seriousness of the situation.
The issue found echo in Parliament and in political discourse.
Both houses of Parliament, meeting for the first time since the protests began, were adjourned repeatedly amid an uproar by opposition members over the issue. As the protesters thronged the roads leading to Parliament, the gates of the complex were also briefly shut.