CJP Spokesperson Saurav Das Dares Govt, Says, 'Meet Us At Jantar Mantar' | CJP Protest | India Today

[00:00:00]In fact, India today is on the ground.

[00:00:01]Rajdeep Sardesai spoke with Saurabh Das who was in that meeting with JP Nadda.

[00:00:06]Listen in.

[00:00:13]>> Okay, with me is the chief spokesperson of the Congress Janata Party, Saurabh Das.

[00:00:17]Saurabh, we are told that the government wants to re-initiate a second round of talks with you. Have you been told about it and are you willing to go and talk to JP Nadda and the government ministers now?

[00:00:27]>> See, we've been open to talks from day one and that in that spirit, you know, on 20th July also, we were called for talks at 6:30 a.m.

[00:00:37]And since then, you know, we were negotiating with the police on a senior minister. And ultimately, we did go meet JP Nadda. However, this time we have put two conditions. Number one, that the government comes with open mind to accept our conditions. Only then will we come and talk with them. And number two, this time we're not going to go to his house or his office. We want to We want the government to come to us and therefore they should come to Jantar Mantar.

[00:01:03]>> You want the minister to come to Jantar Mantar?

[00:01:05]>> To Jantar Mantar, but however, we are rational educated people.

[00:01:09]So, we do understand if he fears that there's a security situation here. We are willing to meet at another neutral place like the Constitution Club.

[00:01:16]>> And your demands remain the same, resignation of the >> Our demands remain the same. We want Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. We want 1 crore compensation for the families of the dead NEET victims. And we There's a third demand that any FIRs that have been filed against peaceful protesters, those have to be withdrawn and a sovereign guarantee ought to come from the government that they won't proceed against anyone who has participated in this protest.

[00:01:42]>> What about those Since you're saying FIRs, what about those who are seen on video resorting to violence?

[00:01:48]>> They should be >> Surely there will be action against those who have targeted RAF or who have targeted government property, police property.

[00:01:54]>> There should be an independent and thorough inquiry into the incident of police brutality. You would have seen a number the internet is flooded with videos of police resorting to brutal, almost lethal kind of lathi charge, using pellet guns. They have broken legs, they have put their >> denied they have denied pellet guns and they are saying policemen also injured and they have put out videos or videos have been put out also of policemen who have been injured or have been targeted.

[00:02:21]>> several videos of policemen just sitting there like this doing nothing. There's no wound that is visible, but on the other hand you look at the crackdown that has happened on peaceful protesters.

[00:02:31]The police will of course run their narrative. They're going to say we did nothing. They even put out a tweet clarifying and saying that we have we have we have acted very professionally and have used minimum force. But if you see the videos it is telling a completely different brutal story.

[00:02:46]>> What happens if Dharmendra Pradhan doesn't resign?

[00:02:48]>> The protest will continue. The protest is going larger. There are protests across the country and this protest is going to become bigger and bigger.

[00:02:56]>> We had Rahul Gandhi yesterday protesting outside Prime Minister's residence and there is a feeling that this is now a battle between BJP and possibly Aam Aadmi Party on one side, Rahul Gandhi on the other. Has this movement got totally political now?

[00:03:08]>> See, I don't think I don't think we subscribe to such narratives. There have been several narratives that have been run against us from day one and that includes being foreign funded, Soros funded and whatnot. None of them have stuck. Why? Because the movement is for the truth. There are facts involved.

[00:03:26]There are of course people have realized how bad the education system has become and therefore none of these false narratives have been able to stick.

[00:03:35]>> So, there's no competition for Bharatiya Janata Party versus Congress Party. I've seen leaders coming here of different parties. Is this now a political has your movement gone out of your control and become a political movement or indeed a a movement of the youth?

[00:03:49]>> See, I I I don't think there should be a negative connotation to the word politics because uh the entire issue with our education system and the massive amount of problems that we face in this country is precisely because people don't want to engage with anything quote and quote political. This is a political youth movement. The issues are political. The answer has to be political also. If the system has to be reformed, it has to be through a political process in parliament implemented by political masters.

[00:04:16]>> Is this an anti-Modi