HYDERABAD: As women led protest movements across the country, Hyderabad saw a women-led solidarity protest of its own as the Telangana Women and Transgender Organisations JAC organised the six-hour protest at Dharna Chowk, Indira Park, in support of the Jantar Mantar agitation on Thursday.
Women and transgender activists in Hyderabad took forward the same demands at Dharna Chowk, where they sought Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and accountability over alleged examination irregularities and police action against protesters.
“Gen Z is challenging patriarchy,” activist K. Sajaya said. “The sight of young women taking charge of protests, confronting the police and claiming political space, she said, challenged long-standing assumptions about who leads public movements.”
That change could also be seen among those who had never entered a protest site before. Two doctors arrived in caps and hoodies, careful not to reveal their identities. Both said this was their first demonstration.
“I have come without informing my parents. It will be chaotic if they get to know,” one of them said, adding, “I want to know more about where other protests will be organised and want to participate.”
Alongside newcomers were people who had moved from one demonstration to another through the week. Amit, who had joined the students’ solidarity gathering at Osmania University a day earlier, said hope kept taking him back to the streets.
“What brings me back is the hope that the system will change and that there will be better days,” he said, adding, “A large protest is necessary, but these smaller protests are also important. People have time constraints and other responsibilities, and this allows them to participate whenever they can. It is a good way to show solidarity instead of waiting only for one big protest.”
Several participants called for a wider overhaul of the education system and linked alleged paper leaks to the growth of corporate educational institutions.
Rakesh, Telangana state joint secretary of Arunodaya Cultural Federation, said he regularly joined protests and cultural programmes.“The protest may have begun as a CJP movement, but its demands are not limited to CJP. They concern young people across the country.”
Paper leaks were one part of a larger problem, he argued. “We keep protesting paper leaks, including the NEET paper leak, but we must also oppose the saffronisation and privatisation of education.”
Amit praised young cultural activists such as Rakesh, who he said worked to keep Telangana’s tradition of protest alive. Rakesh placed the current demonstrations within a much longer history that included resistance to feudal rule, the Telangana armed struggle and the statehood movement.
“Wherever a movement takes place, there is usually some protest in Hyderabad to express solidarity,” he said. The young protesters once dismissed as “cockroaches” had answered those insults through their persistence, Rakesh said. “They are not cockroaches. They have become tigers, and they are roaring at those in power.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
