The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday gave a nationwide call for peace ful protests on July 24 and urged people to hold demonstrations in every district as it rejected the government’s offer for talks, insisting any dia logue should be held only at a neutral venue. It also said Prime Min ister Narendra Modi’s announcement on action against paper leaks did not address the issue of accountability or its main demand of Union Educa tion Minister Dharmen dra Pradhan’s resignation over NEET paper leak. The government made another appeal for talks with Union minister Jiten dra Singh saying a meeting to resolve the issues can be held either at Union Health Minister JP Nadda’s official residence or at his office. Nadda also invited the CJP for talks, but its leaders turned down the proposal, sticking to their demand that they would meet only at a neutral venue. On Friday’s protest call, the CJP said gatherings would be held across the country under the slogan “Every district. One day. One demand”, where participants would read out the protesters’ demands and express solidarity with stu dents, parents and others who were injured in the police action in Delhi on July 20.
The nationwide call came as the protest at Jantar Man tar entered a fresh phase amid heightened security in the national capital, continued restrictions around the protest site and mounting political attacks over the July 20 police action. The protest site continued to remain under heavy se curity, with large parts of central Delhi witnessing traffic disruptions for the second consecutive day. Seventeen Del hi Metro stations remained closed on Thursday, affecting commuters and businesses while mobile internet services were also suspended in parts of central Delhi till midnight in the 1.5 km radius of Jantar Mantar. Traffic restrictions and barricading led to congestion on several major roads around Connaught Place, ITO, Parlia ment Street and India Gate, with many commuters report ing long delays. Despite the restrictions in place, crowds swelled at the protest site, with people raising slogans against the gov ernment, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CJP also alleged that attempts were being made to disrupt its agitation.
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CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed “outsiders” and “BJP goons” were being sent to the protest site to create disturbances and later blame the protesters, allegations rejected by the BJP. CJP spokesperson Saurav Das shared a video on social media purportedly showing plain-clothed youths carrying batons, threatening the protesters. He alleged that one such person had attacked the father of a minor protester inside Jantar Mantar and demanded that Delhi Police invoke stricter penal provisions, including the SC/ST Act where applicable, and take the accused into preventive custody. Police are also trying to determine whether “outsiders” and “habitual offenders” infiltrated the demonstrations and contributed to the violence. Multiple teams have been formed to identify those in volved in attacks on security personnel and damage to public property using the analysis, a source in Delhi Police said. Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, said it was “deeply painful” to see students being portrayed neg atively and questioned why it was “easier to question their intentions than to hear their concerns”. In a post on X, she appealed against linking the ongoing student protest at Jantar Mantar to incidents of violence elsewhere in Delhi without evidence, saying the movement had remained peaceful.
In the morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that the welfare of the country’s youths is the top priority of his government and asserted that anyone trying to harm their future will not be spared. Opposition leaders and CJP functionaries were quick to respond, alleging that the prime minister’s remarks ig nored the concerns raised by students protesting over al leged examination irregularities and the police action on demonstrators. They said the focus should be on addressing the de mands of students and ensuring accountability for the July 20 crackdown. Delhi Police has maintained that force was used to en force prohibitory orders and prevent protesters from marching towards Parliament, and has denied allegations of excessive use of force. Police also denied having any plan of a crackdown on the protesters tonight at Jantar Mantar, dismissing claims made by former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal that security personnel could take such steps against them.
GOA CONGRESS TO INTENSIFY AGITATION
The Goa Pradesh Congress Com mittee (GPCC) has announced plans to intensify its statewide agitation in support of students protesting alleged examination irregularities, with demonstrations planned at the block and district levels over the next two days. GPCC president Girish Chodankar al leged that the BJP-led government was attempting to suppress students and youth activists through intimidation, detentions and the misuse of police machinery.
“Students deserve answers, not advertisements. They deserve justice, not political spin,” he said, accusing the government of trying to divert attention from what he de scribed as repeated examination scandals through public relations campaigns and social media outreach. He said the Congress would expand its agitation across Goa’s districts, constituencies and blocks, and continue the campaign until accountability was fixed and students re ceived a fair and transparent examination system. The party reiterated its demands for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a com prehensive discussion in Parliament on the alleged exam ination scam and systemic failures, and the withdrawal of FIRs and legal proceedings against students and youth who participated in peaceful protests.
