On Saturday, Norwegian journalist Helle Ling celebrated the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, describing it as a “historic day for youth in India.”
In another post, Ling shared a video showing celebrations at Jantar Mantar after the Education Minister resigned on July 25.
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Earlier in May, Ling attracted attention online after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was grilled over his reluctance to take questions from the media. “Why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” she asked during a joint media appearance, and the clip later received widespread attention on social media.
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At the time, Modi was in Oslo on a two-day official visit. As he was wrapping up a joint press appearance with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Sture and walking away, Laing called out to him. However, the Prime Minister did not respond.
Pradhan’s resignation
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, after weeks of massive student protests in Delhi demanding his resignation over examination irregularities, particularly the leak of NEET-UG papers.
Pradhan announced his resignation from the position at X. He said he took the decision keeping the future of the students in mind. “…To ensure that anti-national elements do not take advantage of the situation in Jantar Mantar and across the country, that the nation remains united, and that students in India do not get bogged down in legal complexities and focus on their studies and careers, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister…”, the letter said.
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The development comes a day after spokespeople for the Kokruche Janta Party (CJP), the Abhijit Debke-led party that led the protests, met union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh.
After the meeting, the CJP said the government has been given some time to take a decision on Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
What is ‘pending’ after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation
The CJP said that although one of its main demands for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been met, the remaining demands are still pending, stressing that the protest at Jantar Mantar will continue until they are addressed.
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In a post on X, the CJP shared an updated list of its demands, marking Pradhan’s resignation as having been achieved while reiterating his calls for $1 crore compensation to the families of students who died by suicide, no action taken against the protesting students, and a public apology from the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Delhi Police.
CJP welcomes Pradhan’s resignation
The Sarsour Janata Party on Saturday welcomed Pradhan’s resignation.
“Main kaha jaata tha ise sarkar ho stiv nahi hot. Jukti hai dunya, jukkan vala chahi,” Abhijit Deepki said.
“We did it,” he said, noting that this was the first resignation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Scenes from the protest site showed protesters celebrating after news of the minister’s resignation.
