CJP government will return to talks if protests increase

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi uploaded another Reel overnight – this time thanking “friends” for their suggestions about a Gen-Z style video he posted late at night.

In the latest video, he said, “I got a chance to meet you all late last night. Feedback on the video I posted, practical suggestions… thank you all.”

In the last reel, the Prime Minister had appealed to the country that the government has taken several steps to deal with the paper leak issue. This was one of his less produced videos, shot at a less than ideal angle, seemingly in an attempt to connect with the youth.

Many protesters on the ground read the video as a “desperate attempt” by students to control anger as protests began to spread across the country. “He suddenly woke up and posted a panic reel because he didn’t expect the protests to reach this level,” one protester told DW, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of a backlash.

Meanwhile, social media did what it does best and created memes.

The Prime Minister appears to have accepted that he is watching and learning.

Abhijit Dubke, leader and founder of political pressure group Kokrok Janata Party, has been diagnosed with typhoid, he said in a post on Twitter early Saturday.

“I have been diagnosed with typhoid. My treatment is ongoing, I am being given IV [fluids] Day and night,” Dipke said, raising his hand to show the placement of the catheter.

“But I really want to thank the cockroaches who are protesting peacefully across the country and have made this movement so successful. Thank you very much to everyone and congratulations to all of you for such a big, big success. And I am sure that if we continue to protest peacefully, Dharmendra Pradhan will have to resign,” he said, talking about the education minister.

Deepke and several protesters have been camping at the Jantar Mantar protest site for over a month.

There have been allegations of police brutality after police used tear gas and batons against anti-government protesters of the “Cockroach” movement in New Delhi.

According to the report of DW correspondent Adil Bhat, the atmosphere among the protesters is quite tense. People gathered in large numbers, raised slogans and demanded the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The current protest movement is not tied to any ideology, he says: “It will continue even if there is no leadership.”

Cockroach Janata Party spokesperson and Indian government representatives are scheduled to meet for a second round of talks on Saturday evening, after the first round of talks on Friday yielded no breakthrough.

This comes amid India’s struggling education system and youth-led nationwide protests against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following the leak of National Medical Entrance Exam question papers in May.

The leak affected lakhs of medical aspirants and is believed to have led to suicide by many students.

“They had given us the time of 3:30-4:00 pm today (1000 GMT-1030 GMT). The venue has not been decided yet,” CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka told news agency ANI.

He said, “The discussions are very clear. We should get written confirmation of the two demands on which there has been an in-principle agreement so that they can be closed. We need clarity from Dharmendra Pradhan whether they will ask for his resignation or not. We want a yes or no answer because there is not much scope for discussion on this.”

On Friday, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das and Ranka met Union ministers Jagat Prakash Nadda and Jitendra Singh on “neutral ground”.

The ministers were presented with three key demands of the CJP: Pradhan’s resignation, monetary compensation for the families of students who committed suicide and no legal action against peaceful protesters.

The ministers probably asked for a day’s time to respond to the resignation demand and agreed to the other two.

Hello and welcome to DW’s India blog.

I’m Mahima Kapoor reporting from the New Delhi bureau and I’ll be your guide during the massive student-led protests that started in the capital and are now spreading across the country.

It’s a high-risk weekend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is set to hold the second round of talks with Kokrok Janata Party spokespersons on Saturday evening.

Remember, yesterday government representatives had asked for one day to respond to the central demand of the movement – ​​the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Protestors continue to arrive in large numbers in central Delhi, with numbers expected to increase over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Modi Cabinet approved amendments to the paper leak law providing for stringent punishment and fines for those found guilty. This bill can be presented in the Indian Parliament on Monday.

Tune in for all this and more.