Thousands of protestors, mostly young people, marched to India’s parliament on Monday, calling for the resignation of the federal education minister over alleged leaks of the questions for the national university entrance test.
Clashes broke out with police in riot gear, who were out in force after the students were refused permission to hold the march. Television channels and social media showed visuals of police beating the protesters and firing tear gas shells into the crowd.
The demonstrators were not allowed to reach the parliament building, and both houses of India’s top lawmaking body were adjourned for the day. The monsoon session began Monday.
Thousands of students had congregated on the roads around Jantar Mantar – a historic astronomical observatory – in New Delhi, drone videos showed. Some metro stations in central Delhi were closed down in the morning to prevent the protesters from reaching the staging area.
Internet services were shut down in some parts of central Delhi as part of crowd-control measures, which was condemned by the The Internet Freedom Foundation.
The protests are being spearheaded by India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party movement. Its leader Abhijit Dipke is on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, having taken over from activist Sonam Wangchuk who was moved to a hospital on Saturday by police after his health deteriorated. He is reportedly continuing his fast.
Two representatives of the protesters later held talks with the federal health minister, who urged them to disperse to assist law enforcement agencies.
One of them later wrote on X that they had demanded the immediate resignation of India’s education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Among their other demands were the release of Wangchuk from the hospital and compensation of 10 million rupees ($103,700) each to about 20 students who media reports say took their lives after the cancellation of the national medical entrance exams following question paper leaks.
“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,” Health Minister J. P. Nadda posted on the platform.
Nadda said the agitators later submitted a written petition listing their demands.
“I have requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy,” he said.
But clashes with police continued and thousands of protesters were still in the Jantar Mantar area by evening. Several policemen have been reported injured, and some protesters detained.