NEW DELHI, JULY 18 :Student organisations hit the streets in protest and Opposition parties slammed the Centre after Delhi Police removed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from his protest site at Jantar Mantar on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members of the left-wing student organisations, including All India Students Federation (AISF), the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA), joined a protest organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protestors have been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after the NEET paper leak fiasco. The joint demonstration witnessed students and political activists raising slogans and carrying placards to press their various demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A heavy deployment of Delhi Police personnel was seen at the protest site as the protesters were asked to vacate the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As this happened, the student protestors formed a human chain to protect other activists sitting on hunger strike, including Neha Bora, a PhD scholar from JNU, from police action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, organisers said that the health of three student activists on an indefinite hunger strike has deteriorated as their protest entered its 21st day. They alleged that the Delhi Police attempted to detain them from the protest site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neha alleged that around 7 am on Saturday, “Some people in plain clothes entered the stage area”, following which Wangchuk was “forcibly taken away” by police in the name of providing medical attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She further alleged that police personnel attempted to enter the tent where the three fasting activists were staying and tried to detain them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They could not detain us due to the presence of a large number of volunteers,” she claimed, adding that the protest would continue until Pradhan resigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced a hunger strike after Delhi police began removing protestors at Jantar Mantar after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was taken to a hospital on the 21st day of his hunger strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes after Wangchuk was taken away to Safdarjung Hospital by Delhi Police this morning after completing 20 days of his hunger strike. The development came two days ahead of a proposed march to Parliament on July 20 by Wangchuk and his supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the police action drew sharp criticism from several Opposition leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby condemned the police action against Wangchuk and Dipke, accusing the Centre of suppressing peaceful protests instead of acting against those responsible for the alleged NEET paper leak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a post on X, Baby slammed the government for not acting against the alleged paper leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Strongly condemn the detention of Sonam Wangchuk and Abhijeet Dipke by Delhi Police. Instead of sacking the Education Minister under whose nose the scandalous leak of papers happened and dismantling the system that continues to ruin the future of lakhs of students, the government is coming down with a heavy hand on peaceful protesters,” Baby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This displays the authoritarian attitude of the Modi government. Silencing dissent cannot be a substitute for accountability,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar also lashed out at the Centre for its “irresponsible” handling of activist Sonam Wangchuk\u2019s agitation, claiming the government remained a bystander rather than addressing the genuine demands of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters in Baramati, Pawar asserted that while the government moved to hospitalise Wangchuk as the situation became “uncontrollable”, the protest would continue regardless of the action against the activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the government was suppressing peaceful protests, while Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose and Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav also condemned the action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students of Jadavpur University observe one-day symbolic hunger strike in solidarity with Wangchuk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 34 students affiliated with various students’ organisations, including SFI, AISA, Democratic Students\u2019 Front (DSF), and NAYA DISHA, observed a 24-hour-long fast from 2 pm on Friday till 2 pm on Saturday. The hunger strike was observed opposite the Triguna Sen auditorium inside the University campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protesting students said that this is the first symbolic strike across West Bengal in solidarity with the Jantar Mantar Protest. Speaking to TNIE, an SFI member and a student from the history department, Anish Biswas said, \u201cThis is our smallest of the smallest contribution that we can make for Sonam sir. We don\u2019t want him to die. The whole world is praying for him, and prayers don\u2019t go unanswered, I believe. We will observe this fast for 24 hours as we want the government to listen to his demands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about whether they faced any problem from the faculty members’ side, Rajeswar Mandal, a first-year M.Tech student who is fasting, said, “Faculty members have extended their support, and we will not give up on our fasting. At first, 29 students launched the hunger strike, later on, five more students joined the protest. We want the immediate intervention of the Union government to engage in talks with Mr Sonam Sir.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The students demanded accountability for the NEET paper leak and voiced their support for Sonam Wangchuk and other protesters, including student leaders, who are on an indefinite Hunger strike at Jantar Mantar since July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With posters and placards in their hands, the students held a peaceful protest opposite the Triguna Sen auditorium. The posters and placards carried slogans such as Scrap NTA, All eyes on Sonam Wangchuk, \u201cAll is NOT well\u201d, rephrased from the famous song of 3 Idiots \u201cAll is Well\u201d, as the movie was largely inspired by the Ladhaki engineer, Sonam Wangchuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-PTI<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW DELHI, JULY 18 :Student organisations hit the streets in protest and Opposition parties slammed the Centre after Delhi Police removed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from his protest site at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[28281,28470,63],"class_list":["post-153702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-climate-activist-sonam-wangchuk","tag-cockroach-janta-party-cjp-founder-abhijeet-dipke","tag-new-delhi"],"yoast_head":"\n