A group of youths in Jalandhar has announced that they will hold a hunger strike on July 24 outside the Deputy Commissioner's office to protest against the alleged lathi charge on students during the recent Cockroach Janata Party protest in Delhi.
Speaking about the announcement, Ravish Raj said the hunger strike is being organised to oppose the manner in which Delhi Police allegedly lathi-charged and beat students who had gone to Delhi to participate in the protest and said the purpose of the hunger strike is to ensure that the voices of the protesting students reach the Central Government.
According to him, the protest will be peaceful and will focus on demanding justice for the students who were allegedly injured during the demonstration and the organisers have appealed to people to join the hunger strike in support of the students.
The announcement comes after clashes during the CJP-led "Sansad Chalo" march in Delhi earlier this week where thousands of protesters and students had gathered at Jantar Mantar before attempting to march towards Parliament.
Delhi Police had put up barricades and imposed restrictions to stop the crowd from moving beyond the designated protest area and tensions later escalated, leading to clashes between protesters and police.
Delhi Police have registered multiple FIRs in connection with incidents that took place during the protest and according to police officials, one of the FIRs was registered after videos circulated on social media allegedly showed protesters attacking a Rapid Action Force personnel.
Police said an investigation has been launched into the alleged attack, while further details regarding those accused and the charges are yet to be announced and officials also confirmed that a total of 10 FIRs have been registered in connection with the CJP protest and other law-and-order incidents linked to the demonstration.
Among these, Parliament Street Police Station has registered four FIRs, Connaught Place Police Station has registered three, while one FIR each has been filed at Mandir Marg, Barakhamba Road and Kartavya Path police stations.
According to Delhi Police, the FIRs relate to different incidents that occurred during the protest and concern matters related to maintaining public order and investigations into all the registered cases are currently underway.
At the same time, Delhi Police have rejected several claims circulating on social media regarding incidents that allegedly took place a day after the protest. On Tuesday, the DCP New Delhi issued a statement on X stating that videos claiming to show fresh stone-pelting and police action on Tuesday were false and misleading.
The police said no such incident had taken place on that day and appealed to the public not to believe or circulate unverified videos and citizens were advised to rely only on official sources for accurate and verified information regarding the protest and the ongoing investigation.