Patna: Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation on Sunday demanded withdrawal of cases registered against participants of the Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the farmers’ agitation in Delhi over three controversial agricultural laws.
Addressing an event here on Sunday, CPI(ML)-L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making “provocative remarks” against protestors that could potentially translate into “intimidation and violence” against youth on the ground and social media.
“Prime Minister Modi, through an Instagram video, described students’ protest and its language as a cultural shock. This statement was a provocation which encouraged forces behind hooliganism and violence, the effect of which was visible on social media and on the ground,” he said.
“He also described protestors as ‘dimagi Naxals’ during his Independence Day speech. It was part of a “provocative politics,” Bhattacharya said, adding that “rhetoric-based politics is witnessing its end and the government can no longer deal with students’ questions with repression”.
Referring to the Supreme Court ordering the quashing of FIRs against students across the country over protests against the NEET paper leak issue, the CPI(ML)-L general secretary said, “I welcome the withdrawal of cases registered in the Jantar Mantar agitation. Similarly, the cases related to the farmers’ agitation and the Shaheen Bagh protests should also be withdrawn.”.
At a ‘GENZ Rising’ programme here, organised jointly by the All India Students’ Association and Revolutionary Youth Association, Bhattacharya said the term ‘Gen Z’ should not be viewed merely as a “generational identity” but as “representing the struggle against injustice and for rights”.
He called for the Cockroach Janata Party’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign to be turned into a broader people’s movement and advocated for a ‘One Nation, One Education System’.
Addressing the gathering, AISA national general secretary Neha Bora thanked the people of Bihar for lending support to the agitation at Jantar Mantar against the NEET question paper leak.
“While the ‘face of repression’ of the Samrat Chaudhary-led Bihar government emerged during the agitation, the people of the state set a strong example before the country by resisting the government’s policies and alleged repression,” she said.
Bora alleged that a young protester and his parents were assaulted by police during protests in Bihar over the NEEK question paper leak issue, women protestors were harassed, certain agitators were targeted because of their religious identity, and students were portrayed as criminals.
She urged students and youths to unite on issues of education, employment, democracy and social justice and called for a broader movement against “repression, injustice and corruption.”
