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Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, July 20: The government on Monday reached out to the student protesters and appealed to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to end their sit-ins and assist the administration in restoring normalcy after chaotic scenes were witnessed on the Delhi streets leading to Parliament House as thousands of students attempted to break the police cordon and rush to Parliament forcing the security forces to burst a number of teargas shells and resort to sticks and batons to disperse the charge. crowd.

Some protesters and police personnel sustained minor injuries as they allegedly tried to breach barricades while marching towards Parliament. Sources put the number of injured personnel at 50, even as the CJP asked its supporters to “remain calm.” Mobile internet was also shut down in parts of Central Delhi.

The police burst a series of teargas shells at different locations to disperse thousands of supporters of the CJP who gathered in Delhi to march to Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, despite police denying permission, as part of the month-long protests and hunger strike at Jantar Mantar demanding immediate resignation of the union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for leaking of question papers in various central examinations, particularly National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. (NEET) for medical admissions.

The police also used sticks and batons to disperse the crowd, mostly youngsters, who had converged at the Jantar Mantar protest site in response to the “Chalo Sansad” call of the CJP to press their demands. They were stopped near the Parliament Street, but they defied the barricades, forcing the cops to use force to disperse the crowd.

Several marchers were also detained for some time, but CJP spokesperson Saurabh Das later clarified that the CJP founder leader Abhijeet Dipke, who is also on indefinite hunger strike, was “neither detained nor arrested.”

The protesters later said they were disappointed with the government’s handling of the matter and criticized the Centre, saying their demands remain unheard despite weeks of protests. “All we want is Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. We are not asking for something impossible that the government cannot fulfill. We are not turning around today; if we have come this far, we will see this through till the end,” the protesters said.

As the protesters marched towards the Parliament and clashed with the cops, Pradhan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his office in the Parliament House complex. However, it is not clear on what transpired in the meeting.

Meanwhile, several opposition MPs came in support of the CJP protests, including Congress legislator Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who said the government was unwilling to discuss the problems that the students were facing and using force against them. “We are all asking for a discussion. There are problems and major issues with the education policy. Yet, you are unwilling to discuss it; instead, you are using tear gas on the students and beating them up. For what? They are our children,” she told reporters.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav also came forward to support the CJP protesters, with her party claiming that she was also detained by the Delhi Police. The fasting activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is admitted to Safdarjung Hospital, requested the medical superintendent to allow him to leave “even if temporarily” to participate in the CJP march, asserting that he was feeling “very fine” and that his health parameters were normal, but was not allowed.

Later at the invitation of the union health minister JP Nadda, two CJP spokespersons met him at his residence to discuss the issues and later also submitted a written memorandum listing their demands, including the resignation of Mr Pradhan. In a statement later, Mr Nadda said he had told the agitation leaders that the government would consider their demands and have asked the protesters to suspend the agitation and help the administration to restore normalcy.

“This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government, and our discussions have been ongoing since 11.50 am. The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. An initial verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation, and they submitted a written petition to me around 4 pm,” Nadda wrote on X after the meeting.

“I have requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” he said. Some reports later said the protesters had been evacuated from Jantar Mantar, but this was denied by government sources. The CJP also said the protests will continue.

In a post on X, CJP spokesperson Saurabh Das said they were assured by Nadda that their demands would be considered. However, he pointed out that the government has not made any commitments, reiterating that their protests will continue unless their demands are met.

“Ashutosh Ranka and I have been at JP Nadda’s residence since 12 noon. The demands have been conveyed, including immediate resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan. The Minister assured us he will discuss this at the appropriate level. However, no commitments have been made so far. The peaceful protesters will not rest until the demand is met!” Das said.

The CJP spokesperson also shared a letter, which included the three demands that were raised during their protests. The first and foremost demand was resignation of Pradhan. They also demanded activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is admitted to Safdarjung Hospital, must be released and there should be no prohibition on his movements.

Other than these, the CJP also demanded Rs 1 crore compensation for all NEET aspirants who committed suicide following the paper leak. During their meeting with Nadda, Das also said the Delhi Police should stop using force against the CJP protesters, stating that their demands were “legitimate and in line with aspirations of India’s youth.”

“The youth of this country believes that Mr Pradhan has completely failed in his capacity as the Education Minister of India,” the CJP stated in their letter to Nadda. “He is directly responsible for multiple paper leaks, including NEET 2026, and other exam fiascos, most recently being CBSE 12th portal chaos and CUET exam delay. Due to the NEET paper leak, 21 students (as per our records) committed suicide.”

“Multiple exams have either leaked, been delayed or faced technical errors in recent times, but there have been no systemic corrections / action taken / intent by Mr Pradhan, indicating his gross incompetence as the Education Minister,” they added.

Chaos also prevailed at several metro stations in Delhi after five metro stations — Rajiv Chowk, Janpath, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat and Seva Teerth — were closed over security concerns until further instructions. Hundreds of commuters were stranded or forced to take longer routes to their destinations. At Rajiv Chowk, one of the Delhi’s busiest interchange metro stations, commuters were seen crowding near the closed entry and exit gates.

The Cockroach Janta Party was launched in May by Abhijeet Dipke as a satirical digital outfit, following a controversy over Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s “parasites” and “cockroaches” remark targeting the jobless people. Within days, it took the internet by storm and gained millions of followers across social media platforms. It also attracted support from various Opposition politicians, activists, artists, and sportspersons.

30-year-old Dipke, who studied in the US for the past two years, then returned to India in June to lead the protests in Delhi, calling for reforms in the education sector following alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, including paper leaks. He was later joined by activist Sonam Wangchuk who is on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar since June 28. Wangchuk, 59, however, was taken to hospital by the police last Saturday, citing his health conditions.

In a handwritten note issued from the hospital on Monday, Wangchuk said his fast would end only if the government took responsibility for alleged paper leaks and other failures in the education system or if MPs and leaders of various political parties assured him that they would raise the issue in Parliament.