Painful to see students beaten like animals, says Dipke’s mother on police action
Anita Dipke, mother of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, expressed concern over the lathi-charge on protesting students in New Delhi, saying it was extremely painful to see them being beaten, news agency PTI reported.
She appealed to the government to listen to the agitating students and release those detained at the earliest.
"It is extremely painful to see students being beaten like animals. I wish the government would listen to the agitating students and release them as soon as possible. I am worried after seeing the students beaten brutally. Watching all this has left me emotional," Anita Dipke told Marathi news channel Zee 24 Taas.
Delhi Police lobbed tear gas shells and wielded sticks on Parliament Street on Monday as thousands of CJP protesters marched towards Parliament, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak.
The CJP has accused security personnel of using excessive force against protesters during its "Sansad Chalo" march, alleging that several students were injured.
Anita Dipke said the students were beaten despite doing nothing and that she feared for their safety.
Visits by several leaders, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and activist Manoj Jarange, had offered some reassurance to the protesters, she said.
She also accused the government of delaying action on the students' demands."The government is simply buying time. It won elections with the support of people, but is now not listening to them. Students are demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, and the government should listen to them," she said.
She blamed the government for the escalation of the protest, saying the situation could have been avoided had it addressed the students' demands earlier.
"The first mistake was made by the government when it used lathis on the students who had been protesting peacefully for a month. Had it heard their demands earlier, the situation would not have worsened," she said.
