HUNDREDS of students gathered at Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday in support of the student movement in India led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The gathering came a day after the 36-day agitation in New Delhi ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the education minister.
The protest was organised by the Students Federation of India (SFI) UK, which described the event as a "celebration of the victory" of the student movement in India. The group also repeated its support for education 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 gathering at one of London's best-known public squares saw participants waving the Indian national flag and carrying placards reading “Ban NEET” and “Diaspora stands with people's resistance”.
The crowd also raised slogans of “Azadi” and sang songs including ‘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 demonstrations led by SFI UK were also planned in Leeds and Liverpool in England. They followed earlier protests held in solidarity with the CJP agitation in New Delhi.
