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Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday condemned the Delhi Police's actions against student protestors, warning the ruling dispensation that the public will ultimately punish its refusal to establish institutional accountability.
In a post on X, Venugopal, reacting to scenes of police detaining students and using force to block their march toward Parliament House on the first day of the Monsoon Session, stated that the state's heavy-handed response reflects a government that has become completely rattled by the scale of youth anger. https://x.com/kcvenugopalmp/status/2079200418434105785 "The Delhi Police's assault on the peaceful protesters marching to Parliament shows how baffled the PM and his government is," he said. Questioning the Centre, the Congress leader said, "How long will you turn a deaf ear to the cries of the youth echoing from all across India?" He further claimed that the protest movement would continue to grow and warned that governments which fail to address people's concerns and fix accountability would eventually face consequences. "This groundswell will grow from strength to strength. A government that does not listen to the pain of the people, one that doesn't fix accountability, will be punished sooner or later," Venugopal said. Calling the protests the beginning of a larger movement, he added, "This is just the beginning. The people are fighting to drive out the Modi regime." Venugopal's fierce remarks came in direct support of a sharp critique by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi had earlier attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, labelling him the most "youth-hostile Prime Minister" in the nation's history for failing to secure the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following a staggering 152 paper leaks that impacted roughly 7.5 crore students. In a post on X, the Congress leader accused the Centre of failing to protect students from repeated examination irregularities and criticised the government's response to protests over the alleged paper leak. "Prime Minister Modi is the most youth-hostile Prime Minister in India's history--so youth-hostile that he can't even demand the resignation of a failed Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. 152 paper leaks. 7.5 crore students victimised. And not a single guilty person punished. Who got the punishment? The hardworking youth. And when these children raised legitimate questions about education, they were met with batons and detention in response. The criminals who leaked the papers roam free--and the students raising valid issues are dragged around, beaten. This government isn't just failing the youth--it's pouncing on them," Gandhi said. Sharing a video along with the post, Gandhi said students protesting on the streets of Delhi were demanding a fair and functional education system and should not be treated as criminals. "This country has a majority of young people. Prime Minister Modi is the most anti-youth Prime Minister India has ever had. The boys and girls who are walking the streets of Delhi are not criminals. They are demanding their rights. Their rights are to have an education system that respects them, that is fair, and that is working. Tear-gassing students and lathi-charging students is not democratic. It's not India's way," he said. More than 50 police and paramilitary personnel were injured in today's violence, including IPS and DANIPS officers, as CJP embarked on a protest march to Parliament, Delhi Police sources said on Monday. Police are registering cases regarding the violence. Sources said that police detained several protesters and individuals involved in the violence from various locations. The police will identify other individuals involved in the violence based on video footage, the sources said. They said ten IPS and DANIS officers are among those injured in the violence. The sources said the police have over 40 videos and many among those responsible for the violence had covered their faces with cloth. They said that there could be an increase in the number of injured police officials as some of them are in the process of getting their treatment started. Delhi Police on Monday appealed to all protestors to maintain peace, exercise restraint and cooperate with the police in ensuring peace and public order."All participants are requested to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner, refrain from indulging in any unlawful or violent activities and comply with the lawful directions issued by police officers/personnel deployed on duty," Delhi Police said in a post on X. The police also advised people not to believe or circulate rumours, misinformation or unverified content through any platform."Citizens are requested to rely only on authentic sources of information and extend their cooperation to Delhi Police in maintaining peace, harmony and public order," the post added. A delegation of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) met the Union Health Minister on Monday over its demands. The Union minister appealed to the protesters to end their sit-in. Nadda, who is Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, said in a post on X that this morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government. He said discussions began around 11:50 am and the meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. "There was detailed verbal discussion first and a written petition was given to me at about 4 pm. I requested all the protesters to end their protest and assist the administration in restoring normalcy," he added. Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) chief spokesperson Saurav Das said they placed three demands before Nadda, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of the NEET aspirants, "more than 20 of whom have lost their lives". He said activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is in a hospital, should be "released immediately". Das said that the protest will continue till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. "We met JP Nadda twice. During the meeting, we stated our three demands. First, that Sonam Wangchuk be released immediately... Second, we demand that Dharmendra Pradhan must resign; he should either be dismissed from the Cabinet or resign voluntarily. The protest will continue until his resignation is secured. Third, we demand compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the NEET aspirants, more than 20 of whom have lost their lives. We approached JP Nadda regarding these demands," Das told ANI. Das also made a post about the demands in a post on X . He said they were at Nadda's residence for about four hours."The demands have been conveyed, including immediate resignation/sacking of Dharmendra Pradhan," he said." 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 monsoon session of Parliament began on a stormy note on Monday with opposition forcing adjournments in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over its demands, including on the NEET-UG exam leak. (ANI)
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