New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Left parties on Monday condemned the police action against protesters during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, accusing the BJP-led Centre of suppressing democratic dissent and reiterating their demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders, including general secretary M A Baby, Brinda Karat and Politburo members Vijoo Krishnan, Arun Kumar and Mariam Dhawale, joined the protest at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the protesting students.
In a series of posts on X, the CPI(M) alleged that the government had responded to peaceful protests with force.
“Every lathi charge, every tear gas shell, every welded barricade, every sealed metro station is a confession of the BJP government’s fear. A government that cannot face its own youth, answer their questions, or engage with their demands is a cowardly government,” the party said.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo congratulated “the thousands of students and young people who gathered at Jantar Mantar for a historic march to Parliament at the call of the Cockroach Janata Party and supported by student organisations”. It said the huge mobilisation had given “a befitting answer to the dictatorial approach of the Modi government to the over a month-long struggle calling for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan on the principle of accountability.” “The hunger strike and today’s police action has acted as a trigger for protest actions across the country. The paranoid government, instead of being accountable on the growing mess in education and the pathetic situation of unemployment, had refused to have a dialogue with the protesters,” the statement said.
Issuing a warning, the Polit Bureau said, “The CPI(M) would like to warn the Union government that such repressive measures cannot suppress the growing anger and frustration of the people, especially the youth, against the BJP government’s policies.” It demanded that the Modi government immediately concede the protesters’ demands, reiterating that “Dharmendra Pradhan must go”, the National Testing Agency (NTA) be disbanded, the National Education Policy, 2020, withdrawn, and all those arrested during the protest be released immediately.
The CPI(M) also shared photographs of injured Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists, alleging they were assaulted while participating in a peaceful demonstration.
“Every bruise is evidence of a government that has chosen force over answers,” the CPI(M) said.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) also condemned the police action.
“Brutal police lathi charge on peacefully protesting students at Jantar Mantar. Cowards who destroyed the education system of the country are hiding behind police barricades today,” the party said in a post on X.
CPI general secretary D Raja alleged that the use of force against protesters reflected the government’s “utter contempt for democracy”.
“Brutal lathi charge on students, the welding of seven-foot barricades, the closure of Metro stations with students inside, and the deployment of overwhelming police force against peaceful protesters expose the BJP government’s utter contempt for democracy. Democracy is sustained through dialogue, not repression,” Raja said.
He alleged that students had been forced onto the streets because the government had refused to address concerns over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations and accused it of shielding Pradhan instead of fixing accountability.
The Left parties have been extending support to the CJP-led agitation, which is demanding accountability over alleged examination irregularities, reforms in the examination system and the resignation of the Union education minister. PTI AO KSI KSI
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