PANAJI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday announced the withdrawal of its protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi after the Centre accepted its demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, withdrawal of cases against protesters and consideration of its five-point exam reform charter.
The announcement came after the third round of talks between the CJP delegation and the government. Addressing a joint press conference with Union Ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, CJP National Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said all demands raised by the outfit had been accepted.
“All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully. We will inform you of our future strategy or any other issues. But we request the protesters to withdraw immediately,” Ranka said.
Ranka said the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, who stepped down as Union Education Minister earlier today, fulfilled the outfit’s first major demand.
“We held three rounds of discussions with the government delegation. Our protest at Jantar Mantar, which was going on for several days, had three main demands: Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, withdrawal of all legal cases filed against protesters and organisers, and compensation for families who lost their loved ones after the NEET paper leak,” he said.
Das said the government had agreed to withdraw FIRs filed against protesters across Delhi and BJP-ruled and allied states.
“Our second demand was that all the FIRs filed against the protesters, not just in Delhi but in all BJP-ruled and BJP-allied states, should be withdrawn. This was also our second demand. The government has accepted that demand as well,” Das said.
He added that the government had assured the organisation that copies of all FIRs would be shared with them.
“As per our last information, 15 to 20 FIRs were filed in Delhi. We will receive those copies within three to four days,” he said.
The CJP said the government had also agreed to provide maximum possible compensation, as per rules, to families of those who allegedly lost their lives following the NEET paper leak controversy.
Nadda meanwhile confirmed that the government had discussed the issue of compensation and expressed sympathy with the affected families.
“We all have said that there will be compensation according to the rules and regulations. Whatever maximum will be possible will be given to them,” Nadda said.
The CJP had submitted a five-point charter seeking reforms in the examination system. Nadda said the government would examine the proposals and hold further discussions with the organisation.
“We will think deeply about your charter for reforms in education examinations, and after talking to your delegation, we will try to do whatever we can,” Nadda said.
The minister said the government had “sympathetically considered” the demands raised by the CJP and accepted them.
Ranka said the CJP had shared a written draft with the government as a guarantee regarding the withdrawal of cases and future action against protesters.
“The government has said it will share this with us by Tuesday. We hope that by Tuesday we will receive the government’s guarantees regarding these FIRs and any future action,” he said.
