Police fired tear gas after protesters tried to breach security barricades to march on to the parliament in New Delhi, media reports said on Monday afternoon.

“Stop using tear gas on the youth in front of the Parliament. Choose the path of dialogue instead of repression,” the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said on X, sharing a video purportedly showing tear gas fired at the protesters. 

CJP Founder detained?

Meanwhile, the CJP’s founder Abhijeet Dipke has been ‘picked up’ by the police, the movement’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das said on X on Monday afternoon. 

Das also alleged the police was ‘brutally’ cracking down on the protesters.

The reported detention comes as Das and another spokesman held talks with the country’s health minister earlier in the day.

“While we submit a written letter…he (Health Minister J P Nadda) has ‌assured us that he will ‌meanwhile ​speak internally. We are in that process,” Das ​said on X, saying that the meeting lasted ‘10 ⁠minutes’.

There has yet to be an official confirmation of Dipke’s detention.

Pradhan meets Shah

India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, meanwhile, met Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, amid demonstrations seeking Pradhan’s resignation, Indian media reports said. 

The agenda of the reported meeting was not immediately clear.

The Opposition, meanwhile, demanded parliament discussion on medical exam leaks, and criticised the use of force on protesters. Both houses of the Indian parliament were adjourned until 2pm local time as lawmakers faced a challenging first day back at work for the monsoon session.

Leaders from Opposition parties have also shown solidarity with the movement kickstarted by the CJP. 

On Monday, the Samajwadi Party (SP) protested in the parliament complex to demand a discussion on the medical exam paper leaks that sparked the youth outcry. Some of the party’s MPs were seen holding banners with ‘paper leak’ written on them. 

Speaking to the media, party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government of ignoring the students’ issues. 

After visuals showed security forces baton-charging protesters, Yadav described the action as ‘disheartening’. 

Speaking to the media, he called on youth members of the SP wanting to go to the Jantar Mantar protest site to carry the party’s message to demonstrators that ‘we stand with you’.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also criticised police action.

“When a non-violent protest is taking place, what is the reason for a lathi (baton) charge?” he said while talking to Indian news agencies.

Wangchuk’s hunger strike continues

The month-long demonstration at Jantar Mantar drew wider focus after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who started a hunger strike in support of the protest on June 28,  was forcibly removed by the police on Saturday and taken to a hospital.

For 21 days, 59-year-old Wangchuk’s resolve gripped the nation as he appeared visibly weaker with the passing days, lying down on the stage at Jantar Mantar surrounded by young protesters. 

Modi remained silent on the hunger strike, inviting criticism as several opposition leaders expressed solidarity with Wangchuk.

CJP founder Dipke began his own hunger protest after Wangchuk was taken away, and called for the prime minister’s resignation. 

On Saturday, police forces climbed onto the stage and blocked the view to Wangchuk with white bedsheets as they whisked him away.

Police said they were acting on court orders and expert medical advice. 

Thousands of supporters arrived at Jantar Mantar over the weekend in the aftermath of Wangchuk’s removal from the protest site.

On Monday, Wangchuk said that he would end his fast if the government takes accountability for the education system’s failures or if the CJP march is allowed to reach the parliament and lawmakers give assurances that the issue will be taken up in the house.

“Notwithstanding my health, my fast continues till after the Sansad Chalo March, and will be broken only under the following circumstances,” the activist wrote on X, sharing a handwritten note listing his demands from the hospital.

DW