Indian students gather in solidarity at Londons Trafalgar Square

London, Jul 26 (PTI) Hundreds of students gathered at Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday to express solidarity with the student movement in India led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

The 36-day agitation in New Delhi ended on Saturday with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the education minister.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) UK had organised the weekend protest, which turned into a “celebration of the victory” of the student movement in India.

It welcomed the resignation of Pradhan as education minister and reiterated its stance in support of educational reforms.

“SFI UK salutes the struggle of the student movement and its success in pushing the education minister to resign,” SFI UK said in a statement.

“The fight has been very

inspiring and courageous. But it has certainly not yet come to an end. We continue to grieve for the 21 students who have lost their lives due to the handling of NEET, and of course, the brutal police repression against protestors,” it stated.

The large gathering at one of London’s most iconic squares waved the Indian national flag and placards reading “Ban NEET” and “Diaspora stands with people’s resistance”.

The crowds chanted slogans of “Azadi” and sang songs such as ‘Yeh Subah Kabhi To Aayegi’ and Tagore’s ‘Ekla Chalo Re’.

“All the international students gathered here, please organise around these issues in your campuses,” said one SFI UK worker.

“In the last couple of years, we have seen a rise in the number of Indian students coming here to study in the UK. These are students who are taking massive loans to study here because our country cannot provide them the education that they need or the job opportunities that they need,” the worker added.

Similar SFI UK-led demonstrations were planned in other cities, such as Leeds and Liverpool in England, and followed similar protests held in solidarity with the CJP agitation in New Delhi. PTI AK GSP GSP