New Delhi:
“I want a better future,” said 13-year-old Umasa of Delhi’s Daryaganj, who was participating in the Coackroach Janta Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar. She arrived at the site with her father, Salim, and friend Rahisa, holding the Indian tricolour, and joined thousands of young people seeking accountability from the government over question paper leaks.
Asked why she came to protest, Umasa said: “I have come here for a better future”.
Referring to paper leaks, she told NDTV that she doesn’t want to face the uncertainty that aspirants of entrance exams whose papers leaked faced.
Ashish, a young woman who was at the protest site, echoed Umasa’s sentiments. She demanded Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and a dialogue with the government.
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“There’s only one goal in mind: the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, some accountability from the government, for the government to enter into a dialogue with us to understand what’s actually wrong,” she added.
#LeftRightCentre with @VishnuNDTV | Paper leaks, protests, and the future: NDTV brings voices of the youth from Jantar Mantar pic.twitter.com/eTT931WhCz
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 22, 2026
She said the protesters are at the protest site for all students and children, who are the future of the nation.
“We are here for every one of us, for all the students, for even those who disagree with our movement. We are here for your children,” she said.
Faraz said he was at the protest for the nation.
“I’m here because I believe that sometimes movements and ideas are bigger than people. People who are in power, people who are controlling this regime…Of course, people are here for many reasons, but I believe that there is an idea of a country, that is India, that I believed in, that I grew up reading about in textbooks, in the films that we saw. And I’m here for that idea of a country, which I believe in,” he said.
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Talking about the violence at the protest site, he alleged the police crackdown was “unprovoked”.
“It was unprovoked and unexpected violence from the state, from the police,” he said.
Another young man said the violence on Monday at the protest site was the worst thing he has ever seen.
“It is the single worst thing that I have seen with my own eyes in the city that I call home. I don’t think that anyone deserves to be treated that way, no matter what the current ruling party or what the regime tells you to do,” he said.
Scores of protesters and police personnel were injured in clashes that erupted on Monday at the protest site.
On Tuesday, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, protested outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s house, demanding Pradhan’s resignation. They were detained and released later.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, has put forth five demands to the government, including Pradhan’s resignation, education reforms, and a discussion in Parliament on leaks.
Union Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday accused Rahul Gandhi of being selective in his outrage against paper leaks. He said he ignored paper leaks in states where the Congress and its allies are in power.
