New Delhi:
This government does not see a lot of resignations, now it does – that was the message from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who on Saturday announced the withdrawal of its nationwide agitation after declaring that the Centre had accepted all of its principal demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The announcement came after three rounds of negotiations between CJP leaders and a government delegation led by Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, hours after Pradhan publicly confirmed that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The development marked the culmination of more than a month of protests that began at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and evolved into one of the largest student-led movements in recent years, drawing support from thousands of students across India and opposition parties.
“We presented the government a 5-point charter on how to improve our examination system. The government asked for one month’s time to work on the charter. We have won. Your (protesters’) patience and hard work paid off. Resignations didn’t happen in this government. Now Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned. We know you are happy but today think about the 21 families who lost their children to suicide over NEET. Now we request you to go home,” said CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, addressing protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
“This is a big victory for the youth, a big victory for our Constitution and democracy. This is the power of the youth. We want to tell everyone in government, do not mess with the young generation. Our power is our unity. This is a big win,” said Saurav Das, another CJP spokesperson.
‘All Demands Accepted’
“All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully,” Ranka appealed for an immediate end to the agitation. “We will inform you of our future strategy or any other issues. But we request the protesters to withdraw immediately.”
Das formally announced that the organisation was ending its protest earlier today.
“Cockroach Janta Party declares that we withdraw the agitation in good faith, with the understanding that the agreed-upon terms will be executed within the agreed-upon timelines,” Das said.
Speaking alongside Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, Das added that, since every major demand had been accepted, the group was calling off its protest with immediate effect.
“As the government accepted all our demands, we call off our protests with immediate effect. We appeal everyone to go back home peacefully,” he said.
Three Core Demands
Ranka said the movement, which had continued for several days at Jantar Mantar, was centred around three principal demands. The first was the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The second sought the withdrawal of all criminal cases registered against protesters and organisers, together with a guarantee that no further cases would be filed.
The third demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of students who lost their lives after the NEET examination was not held.
“We held three rounds of discussions with the government delegation,” Ranka said. “Our protest at Jantar Mantar, which was going on for several days, had three main demands: Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, all legal cases filed against protesters and organisers, those FIRs should be withdrawn, and no future cases should be filed against protesters or organisers.”
“Our third demand was compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families who lost their loved ones after the NEET paper was not held,” he added. “Just a while ago, Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. This means that our first demand has been accepted.”
