The gates of Parliament have been shut as thousands supporting the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) marched towards it to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over paper leaks. As the government scrambles to control the situation and reports of use of force against the protesters come in, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is meeting Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Education Minister Pradhan. BJP’s national president Nitin Nabin was also part of the meeting, but left a short while ago.
The government has reached out to the protesters to find a way out. CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are meeting Union Minister JP Nadda, and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and other protesters have now paused the march to wait for the outcome of the meeting. Delhi woke up to a drizzle on Monday, the 23rd day of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest. Within hours, the crowd joining the march swelled to over 12,000. While Delhi Police had to put out an alert for more force, gates of Parliament had to be shut. A top officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the Parliament, told The Indian Express that they did not anticipate the scale of the protests. Mobile internet has been blocked and policemen and riot control forces have cracked down hard on the protesters with sticks. Several people and security personnel have been injured, according to reports.
Thousands of young and angry people converged on central Delhi on Monday, only to be met by police teargas and lathi-charges in a spiralling protest that started with exam paper leaks and gained traction with activist Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike.
Large parts of central Delhi were gridlocked as the protests gathered pace. Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke was picked up by Delhi Police, the organisation's spokesperson said.
"Police brutally cracking down and beating up peaceful protesters, request MPs to stand in support of students on streets," Saurav Das said.
Clashes broke out with protesters, some in school uniform, streaming into central Delhi, navigating inner lanes and attempting to find alternative routes to get as close as possible to Parliament. Some police personnel and protesters were injured.
Undeterred by the extensive barricading, they walked several kilometres, sometimes joining groups of protesters, shouting slogans stopping to wait for an opportune moment to break through and breaching layers of barricades at multiple locations.
A few kilometres away, activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is admitted at Safdarjung Hospital, requested the medical superintendent to allow him to leave "even if temporarily" to participate in the CJP's Parliament march, asserting that he was feeling "very fine" and that his health parameters were normal.
There was chaos in the area with security forces using batons, lathis and teargas to disperse the restive crowds near Constitution Club, Patel Chowk, Shastri Bhawan, RBI Building and Parliament Street police. Internet was shut down in large parts of the area.