Police lathicharge leaves student protester injured
A man from Madhya Pradesh is undergoing treatment at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi after allegedly sustaining injuries in a police lathicharge during a march to the Jharkhand Assembly on August 10 by students demanding that the government consider their demands.
The man, identified as Shivam Singh (36), a resident of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh, is being treated in the high-dependency unit (HDU) of the hospital’s emergency department.
A senior health official said Singh was admitted on August 11 and his condition is stable.
"On August 10, police took student leader Devendra Mahto and several students under their protection in a circle when we were moving towards the Assembly. When we urged police to at least allow Mahto to enter the Assembly premises, they said no. They further told us to be seated there as they were making arrangements for talks for them. But police were waiting for the night," Singh told PTI.
"As night fell, they switched off the street lights and around a hundred policemen came running with sticks in their hands and started beating Mahto and the agitating students around him. Mahto, who was on a stretcher, was attacked, and at that moment I rushed to him and hugged him. When I did that, I was beaten by police on my head, neck, shoulders, back and waist," he claimed.
Due to this, I sustained injuries at seven spots in my spinal cord, he said.
"In my MRI report, seven injuries have been detected in my spinal cord. The report reveals that I have injuries in the cervical spine, cervical curvature, a posterior bulge at C6 and C7, and in the lumbar spine," he said, showing his medical report.
"If it had not been me but student leader Devendra Mahto, then you can imagine. A person who had been fasting for nine days and subjected to this brutal attack, if he himself had sustained these injuries, I believe Mahto would have died by now," Singh said.
He said he came to Ranchi after watching a video in which a student urged people across the country to join the agitation in Jharkhand, drawing a parallel with the students’ protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak.
The ongoing protest in Jharkhand is aimed at seeking reforms in the education system, with students and job aspirants raising demands related to alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.
"I arrived here because this protest is entirely for bringing reforms in the education system in Jharkhand. The agitating students here are not raising any slogans abusing anyone, any party, any government or any particular person. They have simply been raising their voice for reforms in education," Singh said.
He said the protesters had raised issues related to the education system and demanded corrective measures, claiming that the state government had accepted most of their demands.
"The demand for a CBI probe had become a bone of contention," he said.
"The protesters here have valid points on reforming the system, outlining the problems and what needs to be rectified. The state government has accepted most of the demands that the students have been raising.
"I urge the state government to consider their demand for a CBI probe; if they accept it, this agitation would come to an end," he said.
This is the first protest of its kind in India where students have been demanding reforms in the education system, he stated.
Besides Singh, Krishna, 32, a student and JSSC-CGL aspirant from Hazaribagh district, is also undergoing treatment at the hospital after allegedly sustaining injuries in the police baton charge.
"I appeared in the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC-CGL) exam conducted in September 2024. We have been demanding reforms in the system, but this government is not listening to our concerns. Why they are not agreeing to the CBI probe and cancellation of the exam is beyond our understanding?" Krishna said.