Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday rejected talk of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan moving to a different ministry and demanded his complete resignation from the government, calling him a “symbol of destruction of students and their future”.
Gandhi said: “The corrupt, incompetent and perverted Minister of Education must be dismissed… There is some talk going on in Mr. Modi’s government that the solution is to transfer Mr. Pradhan from Education to another ministry. This is not acceptable to the students of India.”
“Mr. Pradhan is a symbol of corruption and what has happened to the future of India’s students. He is a symbol of the destruction of the most valuable thing our country has, which is the students and their future,” he added.
The statements come in the backdrop of the ongoing standoff between the government and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protests at Jantar Mantar demanding accountability for the leaks of National Eligibility Test for Undergraduate Entrance Test (NEET-UG) papers and Pradhan’s resignation. The confrontation turned violent on Monday when security personnel fired tear gas shells and explosive devices.
In a later statement, Delhi Police claimed the crowd was “unruly” and “repeatedly ignored warnings.” Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh met CJP leaders on Friday.
Read also:‘Dharmendra Pradhan must be sacked, non-negotiable’: Rahul Gandhi after meeting students
After the nearly two-hour meeting, CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka claimed that the government was positive on its two other demands which included compensation to suicide victims due to NEET leakage and no FIRs against the protesting students. They also claimed that the government had sought time till Saturday afternoon to deliberate on their demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
Gandhi reiterated three demands – Pradhan’s resignation, accountability for police violence against students and an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi – which he claimed were not his demands but those of the collective students.
He also brought before the audience a student who was said to have torn ligaments in her leg as a result of clashes with the police.
Gandhi said: “This young lady is injured. Yesterday I showed you this young man who was shot in the eye. There are thousands and thousands of young people who have had their legs broken by machines, their heads broken, and pellets entering their bodies. The people who did this – the organizers and the enforcers – must be punished and held accountable.”
A student representative, speaking alongside him, said that they had a long and fruitful discussion with the LoP about the education system, also thanking him for representing their demands. The student said: “Thank you very much, sir, for raising these three demands. All of these are the demands of the nation’s youth and students. Thank you very much.”
Gandhi said: “I am proud of you. You are the greatest force in India. I am proud of every one of you who stands there to resist this government that is attacking our Constitution, attacking our institutions.”
“No amount of force, the entire Indian government can move you from there [Jantar Mantar]. So, do what you want to do. Close it if you want. Threaten if you like. We won’t move from here. they [students] “We will not move from here,” the LoP said, adding, “Narendra Modi is India’s past. The past can never fight the future.”
