We have been witnessing continuous State repression since the beginning of the ongoing student movement at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and its several demands, including the resignation of the State Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. On July 20th, when the protesting students in Delhi started their march to the Parliament, we saw how various forces of the State jointly attacked the students. Delhi Police, RAF [Translator’s note: Rapid Action Force, riot police of the CRPF], CRPF and other forces removed their nameplates to prevent identification. Pellet guns and rubber bullets were fired even during peaceful protest marches, due to which one student lost his eye. Nails were driven into him, electric rods were discharged at his head. Many students are still hospitalized in critical condition. Explosives were thrown. Toxic expired tear gas was used. The forces also attacked the hunger strike stage. Large-scale arrests were made with false cases.
Along with this, we have seen that the fascist BJP-RSS and their proxy forces have been forced to retreat in the face of the students. Students have started a militant mass resistance across the country with just demands against their undemocratic activities. Students from Delhi, Punjab, Bihar, Maharashtra and Bengal participated in the protests. In this situation, on July 24th, in support of the student protests, several anti-fascist, progressive, and democratic student organizations of Bengal including the Revolutionary Students Front (RSF) participated in a procession from Sealdah, Kolkata to Dharmatala with demands such as the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, removal of the National Tests Agency (NTA) and the withdrawal of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 Act. The success of the demonstration made the position of the student youth clear. In this demonstration too, the police of the fascist government of Bengal, along with Hindutva goons, attacked after removing their nameplates. Baton charges were carried out and tear gas was used. Naturally, the students resisted the State forces and the swindler journalists and forced them to leave. On the other hand, during the shutdown in Bihar on the 25th, the police opened fire against the protesters with AK-47 rifles.
Since the 24th, the West Bengal government has been trying to arrest the students present at the rally on the basis of allegations of ‘journalistic harassment’ by bringing them under the Goondas Suppression Act and framing them in false cases. We have seen representatives of this swindler media, making statements that the government of India is not taking strong enough steps to suppress the movement. They are openly supporting the massacres committed to suppress the movement in other countries. Since that day, about 70 students have been identified. 16 of them have been arrested. Most of the arrested students are from the minority Muslim community. The BJP government and its swindler media have started campaigning according to their Hindutva political agenda. These undemocratically arrested protesters were paraded barefoot in Dharmatala yesterday (27/07/2026) wearing half pants. This highlights the declining state of the democratic space in the country. Not only that, protesters are being arrested all over the country, including Delhi, Bihar, Assam. Social media surveillance is being intensified. In Assam, three students were arrested for trying to organize students by opening a WhatsApp group against the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) [Translator’s note: used to gain entrance into medical careers] question paper leak. In Delhi, the Uttar Pradesh police illegally arrested a volunteer named Mohammad Junaid along with his family for arranging food for students.
All these arrests and fascist persecution have a very clear reason. All these protesters arrested in Bengal have been active in the anti-fascist political movement for a long time. They have played a role in the anti-SIR-NRC movement [Translator’s note: Intensive Special Revision and the National Register of Citizens— the former is a process of “citizenship verification” used to include or exclude people from the latter. Through these mechanisms, the old Indian State can deprive people of citizenship and the right to vote if it so chooses] in the student community. Each of these arrests is a direct attack on the larger anti-fascist movement. The purpose of passing the Rowlatt Act in the West Bengal Assembly was to completely destroy the mass movement and use it to suppress the opposition. In other words, this ‘Rowlatt Act’ of Bengal is an extension of the declared war that the BJP-RSS has waged against civil society across the country. We have noticed that the opportunistic parliamentary forces that organized the march on the 24th, instead of standing by the protesting students identified and arrested by the police, and instead of organizing a proper movement against this incident, have repeatedly blamed the protesters and denied all their association with them. Meanwhile, after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on the 25th, representatives of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) have also called off their hunger strike. One of their demands was the release of students detained in fake cases. With the withdrawal of the joint movement and the continuous politics of isolating the protesters by the opportunists, the release of the protesters detained in Bengal during the mob lynching has now become uncertain.
We, on behalf of the Revolutionary Student Front, demand the immediate and unconditional release of everyone detained in fake cases across the country, including the 16 from Bengal. No action should be taken against the 70 students who were intentionally identified. All fake cases against the protesters, including those under the Rowlatt Act, must be withdrawn. The government must make arrangements for the treatment of all students affected by the police and army attacks. Proper investigation and punishment must be made against everyone involved in the question paper leak and the anti-student attacks by the military police. The government must also provide financial assistance to the families of the candidates who suffered from the question paper leak and those who committed suicide. Above all, we must call for the cancellation of the repeatedly failed NTA. The NEP 2020, which is increasing class discrimination in education and a tool for privatization, must be canceled. Each of these demands is linked to each other. If even one of these demands is not fulfilled, it is a betrayal of the student youth. Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation alone will not be able to bring down the corruption and anti-student policies that have arisen due to the overall education structure of the country. CJP is forced to withdraw the movement in the middle because of its class character. But the student community of the entire country is united today to understand their demands. At this moment, the joint militant mass struggle of all anti-fascist, progressive, democratic forces is the only way to direct the ongoing student movement across the country in the right political direction.
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