Students gather in solidarity with Environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, and demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
over irregularities in the NEET exam. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Two days after hundreds of protesters held a “solidarity march” in Panaji, against the backdrop of protests by the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi, the Goa police on Tuesday night lodged an FIR against “unknown supporters” and “protesters” for unlawful assembly and for organising the event “without obtaining prior permission” from the state authorities.
The FIR was lodged at Panaji police station at 10.33 pm based on a complaint by Nilesh A Salgaonkar, Joint Mamlatdar-III and Executive Magistrate, Tiswadi. The police complaint stated that at Azad Maidan in Panaji, “unknown supporters/protesters of CJP with their common object formed an unlawful assembly and without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority organised the protest under the pretext of extending solidarity” with activist Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike.
The FIR has been lodged under several sections including unlawful assembly.
On Monday evening, hundreds of protesters had gathered near the Miramar circle and held a candle-light solidarity march to Azad Maidan in Panaji. The protest was organised by Goa-based NGO, Uzwaad.
Amreen Shaikh, its secretary, said at the protest, “Papers are being leaked. And those students who died (by suicide) due to (NEET) cancellation… the people responsible must face punishment, and there has to be accountability. The Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) must resign. The government should know that if we can give them power, we can also take back that power. And when we ask for accountability, we mean it.”
The BJP Goa vice-president had meanwhile waded into a row over the protests, saying that “cockroaches are with termites”. The post drew criticism from the Opposition parties, who demanded an apology from the BJP leader for using “disgraceful and dehumanising language.” Sawaikar, however, said there was “no reference to anyone”.