‘Dharmendra Pradhan isteefa do’ fills the air at Cockroach Janta Party protest in Pune

Apart from student activists, the protest drew support from a diverse crowd. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

“In the last 10-12 years, there is only talk of Hindu-Muslim in the country. They are manipulating us with this. We have stopped thinking as citizens and started thinking as Hindus or Muslims. They want to divide us. Because then you will only think of religious issues. You will not think of employment, education, jobs, inflation,” Dipke added.

A moment of silence was also observed in respect of the late Rohith Vemula at the protest.

Five demands

The five demand ‘exam manifesto’ released by Dipke at the protest is –

– Whenever there is a paper leak each student should be given Rs 10,000 to compensate for travel, lodging, and mental torture.
– Backup day should be decided in advance for every exam and it should be conducted within 72 hours.
– On-Screen Marking should be cancelled and normal paper checking reverted back to.
– Student opportunities should not be restricted due to age limits if examinations are delayed.
– A tender audit should be conducted seven days before any examination.

Protesters speak

Apart from student activists, the protest drew support from a diverse crowd.

The official police version put the number of protesters at 800. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

NEET aspirant Nidhi said, “I am here because of the scam that has happened. I gave the exam on May 3 and it was very good. And then it got cancelled. I want that the education minister should resign. Even Vedant from CBSE who had given his paper for rechecking was called Pakistani. What do they think we are? What language do they use while speaking? And a good education minister should be appointed there.”

Buddhist monk Bantepradhe Jyoti dressed in traditional saffron attire attending the protest said, “I have come to protest with the children as they have suffered a lot. If Gen Z is harmed then the country is harmed. The country does not work on old people. Their advice is good but the power of young people is what steers the country.”

Tejasi Waknis, holding a poster expressing a mother’s support for Gen Z, said, “I am pretty concerned about the education system as it stands today. I think better people should be in the leadership so it gets cleaned up. Whether its CBSE whether its NEET and frankly I am worried about the whole system in general…I think all parents should be concerned.”

87-year-old Minakshi Pawar said, “I want to support these people that’s why I am here. I wanted to see this happening. Even if I am not directly concerned, I feel the same for all the students who are dying by suicide. They are all ours.”

Security situation

The official police version put the number of protesters at 800. A senior police official said, “The agitation at Pune University concluded peacefully without any untoward incident. To ensure law and order, a police bandobast comprising 75 officers and 750 personnel was deployed, along with two companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF). Monitoring arrangements included 55 body-worn cameras, 17 video cameras, four drone cameras and five Mobile Surveillance Vehicles (MSVs). We also used AI-based cameras with analytics software for bi-directional path tracking of persons entering and exiting the venue. A virtual line was created within the camera’s field of view to determine the total number of persons entering and leaving the site, as well as the overall crowd volume. According to this AI-based analytics system, approximately 800 agitators participated in today’s demonstration.”

(With inputs from Sushant Kulkarni, Vishakha Toshniwal)