New Delhi: The Central Government now appears to be taking the protest by the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP) seriously. Several students were critically injured in a lathi-charge by the Delhi Police during a march to Parliament on Monday; the injured have been admitted to the hospital. On Tuesday, Union Health Minister JP Nadda visited the hospital to inquire about their condition.
JP Nadda arrived at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital with his convoy and spoke with the team of doctors treating the injured. Earlier on Monday, Nadda had met CJP spokespersons Saurabh Das and Ashutosh Ranka to hear their demands. He had appealed to all protesters to maintain peace and call off the protest.
Protesters Injured in Lathi-Charge
A large crowd of students gathered in the capital to march on foot from Jantar Mantar to the Parliament House. Although the Delhi Police had not granted permission for this march, it was part of the CJP’s strategy involving an indefinite hunger strike. To control the crowd of thousands of students, the Delhi Police used water cannons and fired tear gas shells.
Many protesters were injured during this police action. Angered protesters engaged in vandalism and stone-pelting at several locations; stones were seen scattered on the roads from Connaught Place to Janpath. The police are now investigating the source of these stones.
Congress Targets BJP Government
The Congress party has strongly opposed the Delhi Police’s lathi-charge on the protesters and criticised the government. Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on the social media platform ‘X’, stating, “We wanted a discussion on this issue, and for the Union Home Minister to respond after the debate. However, the government silenced us.
“Why was a lathi-charge conducted against the protesting students? Why were they beaten? If such issues are not discussed in Parliament, then where should they be discussed?” He stated that the government itself is creating an atmosphere of chaos and appears to be provoking people, seemingly with the intent of having them lathi-charged, beaten, and imprisoned.
Shashi Tharoor makes a significant statement.
Congress MP and senior leader Shashi Tharoor remarked that the situation is truly unfortunate. The very purpose of Parliament is to hold discussions; numerous issues before us are of great importance to the country and the national capital.
We witnessed what happened yesterday, and if Parliament is not the venue to discuss such matters, then where else should it be done? I believe the Speaker should personally intervene and resolve this parliamentary deadlock by convening an open discussion on the entire situation.
