A protester in Ranchi alleged efforts were made to remove leader Devendra Nath Mahato from the protest site over recruitment exam irregularities, comparing it to a tactic used against Sonam Wangchuk to suppress the peaceful movement.
Fears of plot to remove protest leader to suppress movement
Prem Nayak, a protester at the ongoing protests over the alleged irregularities in Jharkhand’s recruitment examinations, alleged that a medical team visited repeatedly during the night and efforts were made to remove Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) leader Devendra Nath Mahato from the protest site, similar to activist Sonam Wangchuk’s removal from the Jantar Mantar during the Delhi student protests.
“Last night, efforts were also made to take Devendra Nath Mahato. Given the way the administration is behaving, it seems somewhere they want to lift Devendra Nath Mahato, or as I feel, they want to lift him and make it so that once he wakes up, they take him to the hospital just like they did with Sonu Wangchuk, and then suppress this movement,” he said. Claiming that this is a tactic to suppress the movement, Nayak underlined that the protesters are holding peaceful protests while strictly following the law and the Constitution. “They know that as long as Devendra Nath remains steadfast here, the movement will intensify and the crowd will keep growing. You can see the crowd grew yesterday; it will grow today, and it will keep growing. We want to tell the Government of India and the Government of Jharkhand that we are holding our constitution in our hands and carrying out our movement constitutionally. Therefore, we should not be harassed. We are just keeping our demands peacefully, and until today we have strictly and cleanly followed the law and the constitution while putting forward our demands,” he said.
Protesters demand CBI probe, transparency
The protests started after the results of the 14th JPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination were announced on July 5, with aspirants alleging irregularities in the recruitment process. Since then, students have been holding round-the-clock protests and an indefinite sit-in, demanding transparency and accountability. The protesters at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi demanded cancellation of all JSSC CGL, JSSC JE, and PGT exams after 2019, a CBI investigation into the irregularities, strict action against the “mafias and agencies involved”, disclosure of category-wise cut-offs (UR, EWS, BC-I, BC-II, SC, ST), OMR copies, and response sheets for transparency regarding the process and a recruitment calendar modelled after UPSC/SSC standards. (ANI)
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