- 4 hours ago
In an exclusive conversation with India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai, Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka discussed the ongoing protests surrounding paper leaks and examination issues, including NEET 2024 and 2025.
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00:00Okay, let me go straight to one of my newsmakers tonight who was there at that very meeting, Ashutosh Ranka
00:06is CJP spokesperson. Good to have you, Ashutosh, on the show. Tell us what exactly happened because it seems at
00:12the moment there is no breakthrough. You all are insistent on Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. Sources telling India today that is
00:19not on the table as far as the government is concerned, Ashutosh.
00:23I mean, I don't think that in this government, sources really mean anything because in this government, there are only
00:30a couple of people who are ultimately calling all the shots. As far as the meeting is concerned, three of
00:34our demands, one, of course, Mr. Pradhan's resignation, but also compensation for need-affected families and no legal actions against
00:43the protesters.
00:43There was positivity and there was, in principle, agreement around the compensation and legal cases. We hope to have a
00:50written agreement on those to demand soon.
00:52And as far as Mr. Pradhan's resignation is concerned, we have made it extremely clear that that is absolutely non
00:58-negotiable. He has to resign or he has to be either sacked from the cabinet because this is not just
01:03about CJP or the protesting people at Jantamantar anymore.
01:07There are protests happening all across the country, right? Not even the ones which are called by CJP.
01:12Yesterday, before the nationwide call for protests today, yesterday there were protests happening in 150 cities and all these protesters,
01:19all these people all over the country have just one single demand.
01:22They want Mr. Pradhan to go. They want accountability in the system. They want someone to be responsible for those
01:2821 suicides.
01:29They want someone to take responsibility of everything that is wrong, not just with the NEET exam, but also the
01:34CBSE portal, the CUET portal, NEET 2024, 2025 and so many other papers which have leaked and issues that have
01:43come up in the last few years.
01:44No, no, but let's be very clear. When you are saying Dharmendra Pradhan has to resign, otherwise there can be
01:50no discussion.
01:51Government says that's not on the table. That means, you know, what is the end game then?
01:55If there is no basic agreement on this principal demand of yours, where does this go from here?
02:02You are going to talk, we are told again to the government tomorrow.
02:05I don't know about the sources that you are quoting, but the discussion we have had with the government today,
02:10there was no clear yes or no.
02:12No, no, one minute. You are saying something important. You are saying the government did not rule out the possibility
02:17of Dharmendra Pradhan quitting or being asked to go?
02:20Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The only discussion we have had regarding Mr. Pradhan's resignation was that they need to take
02:28this up with the Prime Minister.
02:29There was absolutely no ruling out of Mr. Pradhan's resignation, otherwise we would not have even continued the discussion.
02:35You are saying something important. That you are saying the ministers who met you did not rule out Dharmendra Pradhan's
02:42resignation.
02:43Am I clear in your mind? They said this to you?
02:46Absolutely. Absolutely. The delegation was very clear that we will take this up with the Prime Minister.
02:53You have raised your concerns. You have highlighted the gravity of the issue.
02:57There was absolutely no go as far as the delegation is concerned, because otherwise the discussion would not have even
03:04continued for a minute.
03:06That's an important news flash you are giving us. But I want to understand from you, was any time frame
03:12discussed as to your planning to meet again?
03:14Did the minister say within 24 hours we will come back to you?
03:18Yes. So, the discussion was like we will have more forward movement on some of these demands tomorrow.
03:25And probably around 3.34, the exact time remains to be confirmed.
03:28And we have made it very clear that this is a ticking thing. This is not something that can go
03:33on for weeks and months, because there are protests happening all over the country.
03:37Not just from CJP, but all across the country there are protests happening. And this is a ticking thing.
03:43More you wait, more the discontentment grows, more the anger grows.
03:46And now increasingly, that discontentment, that anger is being directed at the Prime Minister.
03:51So, this government also needs to understand that very soon this might not even be limited to Mr. Pradhan.
03:58How do you respond to those who say that asking for Dharmendra Pradhan has become your majburi, your compulsion?
04:04Because you also know that if you bend on that, that's the end of your protest, that's the end of
04:09your agitation.
04:10So, you have no option now left but to keep pursuing this.
04:13Remember, Sonam Vangchuk has ended his fast without demanding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.
04:18You are telling me y'all are not going to back off till the minister resigns?
04:23No, Razeeb, this is not even about CJP anymore. This is what the people of this country want.
04:30This is not just about what's happening at Jantar Mantar or what's happening on the stage here at Jantar Mantar.
04:35The people of this country want Mr. Pradhan gone.
04:39Even if you arrest us, even if you somehow just call off this protest and just, you know,
04:44detain us and make sure that there is no one protesting at the Jantar Mantar,
04:47the people of this country are not going to stop until Mr. Pradhan goes.
04:50And that's exactly what this government needs to understand.
04:54But there will be those who will say, Ashutosh, that Dharmendra Pradhan resigning is not going to change anything.
05:01You seem to have now made the entire issue about the minister, not about the education system or about paper
05:06leaks.
05:06The prime minister says, I'm being proactive. He gave a full selfie video yesterday,
05:11saying we will proactively act on paper leaks. You don't trust him?
05:14The prime minister had to wait for 45 days since the first protest happened.
05:19Prime minister had to wait for almost two months since the newspaper got leaked for him to get proactive.
05:25What was he doing in those last two months?
05:28That's what you need to answer the question.
05:30Why did it take the prime minister suddenly a couple of months to come up with a selfie video in
05:36the midnight?
05:37What is this proactivity?
05:39What is he trying to really fix?
05:41We have seen so much of this theatrics.
05:43We are done with this.
05:44We want accountability.
05:45We want someone to be held responsible for what has happened in last few months and last few years in
05:50this country.
05:50And Dharmendu Paddan has to go.
05:53And it's not our majburi.
05:57This is what the people of this country want.
06:00You are saying this is what the people of the country want.
06:04The people of the country also presumably want an education system that improves, no paper leaks.
06:09You are telling me that the very start of this process has to be the resignation of the minister.
06:13Am I correct?
06:15Absolutely.
06:16And we have also given a very clear-cut demand charter, a five-pointer demand charter that was released by
06:26us a couple of weeks ago
06:27that talks about broader reforms in the exam system.
06:32That demand charter has also been shared with the delegation today.
06:36And we really hope that in the next few days, the government will also start acting on these demand charters.
06:42Stay rest assured.
06:43We are a bunch of educated people.
06:45We know what broader reforms look like, what structural reforms look like.
06:51We have backgrounds in policy.
06:56We have backgrounds in engineering.
06:57We've all studied from good colleges.
06:59We know what structural reforms look like.
07:01But how do you even talk about structural reforms when the person heading ministry is incompetent?
07:06You know, there are two other demands you've made.
07:09One is all FIRs have to be withdrawn.
07:11Has the government committed to you that they will withdraw all FIIs against any of the protesters,
07:16irrespective of the nature of the supposed crime?
07:18Was that a commitment made to you?
07:20So we have made, we have asked the government that all the FIIs that have been filed so far
07:28on the protesters in the events leading up to 20th July,
07:32in the event of 20th July, they need to be withdrawn.
07:35And we need a sovereign guarantee that no such FIIs targeting peaceful protesters
07:39will be filed in the future.
07:41There was in principle agreement, there was positive response from the delegation
07:45and I hope that there is a written agreement that all of us can agree upon.
07:50And also on the one crore compensation for families of those who committed suicide
07:55or died by suicide during the need, is there a commitment from the government to look at that?
08:00That again has seen an in principle agreement.
08:04The exact details of the compensation should hopefully be finalized very soon.
08:08You know, I'm listening to you, I can see you're coughing,
08:10you've gone through a tough time.
08:12There have been worries, of course, that, you know, many of you are now reaching exhaustion point.
08:18As your protests, is it, are you all getting slowly exhausted?
08:22Do you feel you are being tired out or do you believe the protests will be even more energized
08:26because the weekend is coming?
08:28No, I'll not hide the fact that we are really tired and exhausted.
08:33It's been 35 days, we are not seasoned protesters.
08:376 June, when Deetke landed, I was the one who took him from the airport to Jantar Mantar.
08:43That's actually the first time I even saw Jantar Mantar.
08:46Right?
08:46We are not seasoned protesters.
08:47This is all very new for us.
08:49This is very overwhelming for us.
08:50Last 35 days, we have been at Jantar Mantar.
08:53Deetke sleeps there daily.
08:54I sleep there almost every other day or four, five times a week.
08:59So, this is all very exhausting.
09:00But then, every day when we see, when we wake up,
09:03we see these hundreds and thousands of people right in front of our eyes.
09:06That's our morning view.
09:07And we see hopes in their eyes.
09:09We see determination in their eyes.
09:11And that's what keeps us going.
09:14Will Sonam Vangshuk still be part of your protest?
09:17Do you expect him, want him to come to Jantar Mantar?
09:19Because him breaking the fast with J.P. Nanda sent out the message
09:22that he seems to have made his peace with the government.
09:26We are so happy that sir ended his fast yesterday.
09:29We have been requesting him to end his fast for a few days now
09:33because we are really, really concerned about his health.
09:35And we are so, so proud and honored to have worked under his guidance.
09:39He has ignited the entire country.
09:42People have rallied behind him and the people have really woken up
09:45because Sonam Vangshuk was with this movement.
09:49And it's so, so inspiring
09:52that he could have very much ended his fast a few days ago.
09:55But he negotiated hard with the government
09:58and he made sure that the government gives a commitment
10:02on the legal cases and on the compensation.
10:04I really, really wish that he gets well soon
10:07and then he's able to visit Jantar Mantar.
10:10When you fast for 25, 26 days,
10:12you need to initially rest in hospital
10:15under very controlled conditions for at least few days.
10:18But I really hope that as soon as he gets well,
10:21we all will see him at Jantar Mantar.
10:23My final question, we've got protests
10:25likely to take place in different parts.
10:27I know in Mumbai there are protests taking place tomorrow.
10:29Are you all any more in control of this movement?
10:31Have you all lost control?
10:32You yourself seem to admit as much that this is now gone even beyond the CJP and Sonam Vangshuk.
10:38No, I think this is not even about control.
10:41This is about the fact that the youth of this country has woken up.
10:44The youth of this country has finally stood up.
10:47They don't anymore fear this government.
10:49They stand for their rights.
10:51They stand for what's right.
10:52As I speak, my hometown Jaipur,
10:54there has been a protest going on for 36 hours.
10:58That protest will go on tonight as well.
11:00There's no leader.
11:01And yet people are sitting there peacefully.
11:03They are singing.
11:05They are chanting slogans.
11:06All of them are demanding Dharmendra Prasad's resignation.
11:09This is a country which has finally found its voice.
11:12This is a generation that has finally found its voice.
11:14And we are so, so, so proud of everyone and anyone who has stood up.
11:18And we are so proud that we are the ones who have been the harbingers of change,
11:22who have facilitated this movement.
11:25And we are more than happy that people are taking control.
11:29People are driving this movement.
11:31And people will eventually lead this movement.
11:33But you're not worried about anti-social elements,
11:37violent groups taking it over.
11:38That's been the fear, of course.
11:40We saw some of it on the 20th.
11:41Isn't that a fear?
11:42Or even Sonam Wangchuk has expressed that fear.
11:45That, you know, if the movement turns violence,
11:47you get discredited overnight.
11:49No, I like the word anti-social elements
11:51because it's a diplomatic term for BJP goons.
11:55BJP goons can do whatever they want.
11:57That's exactly what they know.
11:59To incite people to do Gundagardi, to do Marpeet.
12:02That's completely fine.
12:03That's exactly what they know.
12:05When I hear you say that,
12:07those who hear you say that will say,
12:08therefore, this movement has now become anti-BJP, anti-Modi.
12:11It's more about politics, less about the students.
12:14Absolutely not, Razdeep.
12:15You just see the profiles of the one who attacked Deepke in Jaipur.
12:18Or you see the profile of the one
12:20who attacked one of our protestant issue's father.
12:23Or you see the profile of the lady who threw ink on Deepke.
12:26It's not me who is saying this.
12:28It's the fact.
12:29You just check out their profiles.
12:31That's exactly what they do.
12:32That's exactly all they know.
12:34They can't debate on education.
12:35They can't debate on policy.
12:37Well, some of them can.
12:38Well, some of them can, of course.
12:40But most of them can't.
12:41And that's exactly what they can do.
12:43They can come, fight it out.
12:44They can do Gundagardi.
12:47They can beat peaceful protesters.
12:48And they'll continue doing so.
12:49But we don't fear them anymore.
12:51The people of this country don't fear them anymore.
12:53And the protests will go on peacefully as it has been for a while.
12:59Ashutosh, let me leave it there.
13:00I appreciate you joining us.
13:02I remember two months ago when the story broke of the paper leaks.
13:05You had given me a detail of how paper leaks had taken place long before the CJP was formed.
13:10Good to have you on the show.
13:11Stay well.
13:12You don't seem looking very well.
13:13I hope you get better come tomorrow.
13:15Thanks very much for joining me here on the show tonight.
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