RANCHI: Changing their stance on the 23rd day of their stir, the students protesting irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations, on Sunday gave an ultimatum to the state government, warning that if their demands are not met, they will lay siege to the CM’s residence in Ranchi on August 20. The students said they would stage a ‘dharna’ outside the CM’s residence and, if their demands remained unfulfilled, would seek CM Hemant Soren’s resignation.
This is the first time since the agitation began that the protesting students have raised the demand for the CM’s resignation. “If our demands are not met by the 18th, the Chief Minister’s residence will be surrounded on August 20. We will sit there and demand our rights, and if our rights are not granted, resignations will also be demanded,” stated a post by JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch.
JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch leader Ravindra Paswan said that the movement would henceforth not follow the path of Gandhi but that of Bhagat Singh. “Today, we are changing the course of our movement. We have had enough of Gandhian methods and peaceful protests. They simply aren’t listening. We are now going to adopt the path of Bhagat Singh.
We are prepared to face bullets, even if the government shoots us in the chest, for this cause. We will continue our agitation until our demands are met,” said Paswan.
He also issued an ultimatum to the government: meet their demands by the 18th of this month, cancel the JSSC results, scrap all exams conducted by the TDPL agency, and order a CBI inquiry into all of them. Meanwhile, Piyush Kumar Singh, representing the platform, accused the government of ignoring the protesting students.
According to the protesters, when their agitation began, Rahul Gandhi had assured them that if CM Soren failed to provide a satisfactory response by August 15, the Congress would withdraw its support from the Jharkhand government.
They alleged that even after August 15 passed, the government took no concrete steps to address their demands and were being fooled.