Pressure has been growing on India’s government with thousands of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters continuing to protest in the capital Delhi despite heavy rains overnight.
The youth-led movement, seeking education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, got a boost on Tuesday when India’s main opposition Congress party leaders protested outside the prime minister’s house.
They were protesting against the brutal police crackdown on Monday’s CJP protest in which dozens of protesters and policemen were injured.
Congress shared videos of their MP Rahul Gandhi and others being dragged into buses and taken to detention centres. They were later released.
On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters flooded central Delhi after the CJP called for a march to parliament as the monsoon session began. At least 60 people were injured after police used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Officers also dismantled the stage and makeshift tents at Jantar Mantar, the protest’s main base near the 300-year-old observatory. But the demonstrators have refused to leave, maintaining a round-the-clock sit-in.
A day after the violence, they were visited by several senior opposition leaders such as former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and veteran politician Sharad Pawar.
Later on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi led a surprise march to Modi’s house, demanding the resignations of Pradhan, Home Minister Amit Shah who the Delhi police report to and PM Modi.
Gandhi said the government must apologise to students for the crackdown, adding that the Congress decided to stage a protest outside Modi’s house because they weren’t allowed to raise the issue in the parliament.
He said he had met speaker Om Birla to seek a discussion, but “the speaker said he needed to take permission from the government, but it was very clear to us that there was no interest in the government of having a debate”.
Federal Minister Jitendra Singh denied Gandhi’s allegation – he said he informed the Congress MP that the government had accepted his demand for a discussion but alleged that Gandhi later also demanded the resignation of Pradhan.
He accused Gandhi of “changing the goalpost” and of refusing to end the protest despite being told that the place wasn’t conducive to such demonstrations.
Later, Pradhan – in his first comments since Monday’s violence – criticised the Congress for “shamelessly exploiting students as political tools”.
“Even after the government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion, the Congress chose political spectacle over democratic debate. Their objective was never solutions for students, it was disruption for political headlines,” he said in a post on X.
Pradhan did not directly refer to the CJP or the protests but said: “We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering.”
Pradhan’s resignation has been one of the key demands of the protesters and the CJP has not responded to his comments so far.
A satirical political movement, CJP was inspired by remarks made earlier this year by India’s chief justice, who used the word “cockroach” to describe unemployed young people turning to journalism and activism. After the comments sparked outrage, he said he had been referring only to those with “fake and bogus degrees”.
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