From Jantar Mantar to Jharkhand Assembly

August 12, 2026

The anger of students protesting against Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi reached its peak on Monday. Thousands of students reached the gate of the assembly shouting slogans against the government. Using force on the students, the police lathi-charged and used tear gas to disperse them.

After two weeks of protests, the anger of the youth came out in the form of an explosion in Ranchi on Monday. Three examinations of 14th JPSC Joint Civil Services, which could have provided jobs to the youth, also became a victim of corruption and irregularities.

For 16 days, no one took action. Six protesters were on an indefinite hunger strike. What happened before that at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, when thousands of young people marched to Parliament under the banner of the Cockroach Janata Party, is history. Force was used against students, security forces were pelted with stones, and ultimately, the then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to resign.

Whether you call the students foreign-funded, anarchist elements, or puppets of a political party, the question still arises: didn’t what happened at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, or now in Ranchi, Jharkhand, reflect the anger of millions of young people whose dreams remained unfulfilled? The problem should have been resolved after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, but where has it been? The problem that existed in Delhi is now present in Ranchi and Bihar. Whether it’s Prayagraj or any other city, political parties are competing to harness the anger of the youth and, empowered, become the ultimate authority on the so-called “G-G” power.

Allegations started coming that the parties which are in power in Jharkhand, were in favor of the youth in Delhi but why don’t they speak in Jharkhand. Things went out of control in Jharkhand as well. On the 16th day of the protest, the government bowed down, agreed to cancel three exams, all the members of the commission resigned. On Monday, the chairman of the Joint Selection Commission was also arrested. But the protesters insisted on a CBI inquiry. Although the government said that we have accepted 98 percent of your demands. Like the action replay of Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the same thing happened with the students outside the Jharkhand Assembly on Monday. However, the students said that our protest is peaceful and non-violent.

“We will respond to lathicharge with flowers,” he said. When the police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, the students responded with their shoes and slippers. Student leader Ravinder Paswan argued that while their demands for cancellation of the 14th JPSC exam and dissolution of the commission were met, why was their demand for a CBI investigation not accepted?

The government says that the exam was conducted under the supervision of the High Court and the Supreme Court, so the demand for a CBI investigation cannot be accepted. In our opinion, this entire situation should now be reconsidered. Appropriate policies should be formulated for students. Change will not be achieved through a single order or government action; the system will need to be radically transformed. To provide a just and proper life for young people, the entire education and administrative system, from the basics to the top, needs to be overhauled. This anger should not be allowed to become a tool for politicians.