However, the demonstration led to a standoff between the protesters and the Delhi Police. Protesters refused to leave the venue after the Delhi Police denied them permission to extend the agitation beyond the approved period.
“We are not going to stop. The CJP will keep protesting until the minister resigns,” Saurav Das, key spokesperson of the CJP, told The Tribune.
According to a senior police official, around 350 Delhi Police personnel were deployed in and around Jantar Mantar. Multiple layers of barricades were erected around the protest site and adjoining roads, while vehicles were checked at key entry and exit points across the Capital.
In a departure from the previous protest, CJP volunteers acting as marshals were also stationed at entry points. They verified identity cards of everyone, including mediapersons, entering the venue.
Amid soaring temperatures, water bottles were distributed among attendees, while a water tanker arranged by the administration remained stationed near the site. Women police personnel were deployed to ensure the safety of female participants. Temporary shelters were also provided to shield protesters from the afternoon sun.
Addressing the protesters, Dipke said youngsters had come to Delhi seeking justice over repeated exam-related controversies. He claimed the Delhi Police was not responding to his requests seeking permission to continue the demonstration and urged the authorities to allow the protest to remain peaceful.
The gathering also saw the participation of Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, who announced that he would undertake an indefinite hunger strike from June 27 if the government did not address concerns over the alleged irregularities in the education system. He added that he would begin the fast if the government failed to accept accountability for the alleged shortcomings in the education sector.
As the approved duration of the protest came to an end, the police informed organisers that the demonstration could not continue and warned that action could be taken if protesters failed to disperse.
Yet, protesters remained within a barricaded enclosure in front of the stage as Dipke declared that the agitation would continue. “We will peacefully continue to sit here like this,” he told the protesters.
Dipke also urged the Delhi Police to provide an alternative venue if the protest could no longer be held at Jantar Mantar. At the same time, he questioned why the Education Minister continued to be in office despite the allegations that had triggered the agitation. “You are giving us a warning that your protest time has ended. You should also give a warning to Dharmendra Pradhan that his time in the ministry has ended,” he said.
With permission denied for an extension, protesters continued their sit-in under the light of mobile phone flashlights. Demanding that light be restored in the area, Dipke said: “If any attack happens on me in this darkness, then the people who switched off the lights will be responsible.”
Later, Dipke alleged that food supplies were not allowed inside the protest area and appealed to the Delhi Police to allow the supply of food, water and other basic necessities at the venue.
He claimed that drinking water was also being stopped at the police barricades and asked who would take responsibility if people fainted because of the heat. Dipke said when Bhagat Singh was protesting, even the Britishers gave them water.
Referring to the possibility of protesters continuing without food, Dipke invoked the history of political fasts and suggested that demonstrators were prepared to make similar sacrifices.
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling English daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the newspaper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).
Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia
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