“No one from govt came for talks yet”: Student leader Devendra Nath Mahato as ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ continues
Ranchi, August 10
Amiid the ongoing ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ march by JPSC-JSSC aspirants in Ranchi on Monday over alleged irregularities in state recruitment examinations, student leader Devendra Nath Mahato, who has been on a hunger strike at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium here for the past nine days, said no representative from the Jharkhand government has come forward for talks with the protesters yet.
“Till now, no one has come from the government side for talks,” Mahato told ANI during the protest march.
The ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ march was organised by JPSC-JSSC Reform Morcha against alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examinations. The protesting aspirants have maintained that their key demands, including cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination, a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities and reforms in the recruitment process, have not been fully accepted by the state government.
Earlier, a clash broke out between youth protesters and police during the ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ march near the Jharkhand Assembly. Police used tear gas shells for crowd control and also resorted to lathi charge and water cannons as a large number of students attempted to move towards the protest site.
Mahato slammed the police action during the protest, alleging that the government was attempting to suppress the students’ voice.
“This government is crushing our voice, and using water cannons and tear gas shells. This is condemnable. The government is scared; this is a coward government. Sarkar jab jab darti hai, tab tab Police ko aage karti hai,” Mahato said.
Mahato said that the agitation had turned into a mass movement and would continue until the demands of students were addressed.
“This agitation is not going to stop. This has become a mass movement. The palindrome of ‘Yuva’ (youth) is ‘Vayu’ (wind) – nobody can stop ‘Vayu’,” Mahato said during the march.
Student leader Ravindra Paswan appealed for a peaceful and constitutional protest while urging the administration to identify “anti-social elements” attempting to disrupt the agitation.
“We are peaceful. Students are adamant about their issues. A few anti-social elements are attempting to take the protest in a different direction. But we, the students, are supporting our issue,” Paswan said.
He added that CCTV footage and videos would be examined to identify those involved in any untoward incidents.
“We appeal to the administration to identify such anti-social elements. Our volunteers are also trying to identify them. CCTV footage and video cameras will be examined, and action will be taken,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ranchi City Superintendent of Police (SP) Paras Rana said that while most students were protesting peacefully, some protesters became aggressive and damaged barricades.
“90 per cent of the students are peaceful, but 10 per cent are paying no heed to anyone. Around 700-1000 students in the crowd are not listening to anyone, not even their representatives, and have broken barricading, pushing through it and crushing three police personnel; still, police personnel showed restraint,” Rana said.
He alleged that protesters also pelted stones at the police force but maintained that officers used minimal force.
“They have also pelted stones at the police force. Still, we showed minimal aggression for a really short time because they are all only students. I appeal to everyone to be peaceful and not be violent,” the SP said. (ANI)