New Delhi : After Delhi, the student movement in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, has intensified. On Monday, thousands of students marched from the old assembly to the new assembly. Notably, student leader Devendra Nath Mahato, who has been on a hunger strike for nine days, also participated in the assembly siege. The courage shown by the Mahatos who participated in the march can be gauged from the fact that Abhijit Deepak, who could not participate in the Parliament march during the Jantar Mantar protest, said that he could not lead the protesters due to his three-day hunger strike.

Thousands of students marched towards the assembly to protest irregularities in the JPSC-JSSC exams. Moving from the old assembly, the students crossed several barricades erected by the police one after the other. After that, they sat on the road near Shaheed Maidan. While preventing the students from moving forward, a scuffle broke out between the police and the protesters. However, volunteers from student organizations continuously tried to control the crowd and prevent the students from moving forward.

Devendra Nath Mahato’s march with ambulance and stretcher

Devendra Nath Mahato, who had initially abstained from drinking water for four days, did not leave the protesters alone during the assembly march. Devendra Nath Mahato, who had been on a hunger strike for nine days, started the march with a photo of Shibu Soren in his hand. After walking a few steps from the stage, Mahato was put in an ambulance. After traveling a short distance in the ambulance, some protesters lifted the stretcher on their shoulders and took Devendra Nath Mahato forward. Seeing Devendra Nath’s courage, the students got excited and shouted slogans in his support.

Barbed wire netting hurts more than hunger strike

Speaking to the media during the march, protestor Devendra Nath Mahato said that he feels more pain from the barbed wire installed by the police than the hunger strike. He said, the government invited chaos. I am admitted in the hospital. I have been on hunger strike for nine days. I am a normal boy, eating rice and dry rotis. Nothing is going to change in my personal life. Barbed wire netting hurts me more than the hunger strike.

Three layers of barricades have been broken. Why does the government want chaos? Why is the government not agreeing to the demands of the students? I thank all the students and the media who are raising the voice of the aggrieved students. Maintain composure and discipline. Today is Hemant Soren’s birthday, and I did not want them to do anything that would lead to an incident like Jantar-Mantar. Students get injured and the agitation gets more intense. Don’t give them birthday gifts that will cause bloodshed.

Devendranath Mahato said that he joined the march at the risk of his life because the agitation could turn violent at any moment, there could be stampede, and tear gas could be fired, and in such a situation he would not be able to survive. He said that if Shibu Soren were alive, he would have been with the protesting students, who himself would have led the protests all his life.

What did Deepak say about not participating in the Parliament march?
During the Kokroch Janata Party protest in Delhi on March 20, when the Parliament march was planned, CJP chief Abhijit Deepak himself could not lead it. He stayed on a truck at Jantar Mantar. He was heavily criticized for this.

In a recent interview, Deepak explained that he had been on a hunger strike for three days and had started feeling dizzy. At the request of other CJP members, he wanted to lead the crowd by riding on a truck. Deepak said that if he had not been on a hunger strike, he would have marched on the ground himself.

Report – Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)