New Delhi:
The ruckus over BPSC Exam (BPSC Exam Clash) continues in Bihar. The students are adamant on their demand for re-examination. Meanwhile, Jan Suraj Party President Prashant Kishor is also supporting the students. He is on the target of BJP regarding this. Now in a special conversation with NDTV, Prashant Kishore has said that he had gone to meet the students to seek their cooperation. What crime did he commit in this? PK said that in the Gandhi Maidan of Patna where book fair and exhibition is organised, if 5 thousand students are sitting in a corner and talking, then what permission is needed for this.
Story of Patna riots…in the words of Prashant Kishore #NDTVExclusive , @BabaManoranjan pic.twitter.com/AwnCP83KHi
— NDTV India (@ndtvindia) December 31, 2024
Why did you join the students’ movement in Bihar?
PK said that I do not participate in any demonstration. Was not involved in the students’ demonstration for the first 10 days. I believed that it is a matter between the government and the students, the discussion should be held at that level. We joined because the police chased and killed the protesting students 5 days ago. Sonu Yadav, a child from a poor family, also committed suicide. After this I felt that we should stand with them. There should not be a wrong FIR against the students sitting on strike.
Did the agitating students call you?
Students have been calling me everywhere. I told the students that I stand with you with all my strength. I will stand with you if you protest peacefully. After this the students together organized Student Parliament. In this, we and other students decided that the leadership of this movement will not be decided by any coaching center owner or leader, the agitating students will form a committee from among themselves. The students formed a committee and the same committee met the government.
You called a student parliament, did you not get permission for it?
On the students’ protest at Gandhi Maidan, Prashant Kishore said that if five thousand children have to be found, then where will they be found. Which child has such an open space where five thousand children can meet? Gandhi Maidan is a public place. Thousands of people come there for a walk every day. If five thousand students are talking together in one corner of the huge Gandhi Maidan, then what permission is required for that and why permission should be required. Gandhi Maidan does not belong to anyone’s father. It belongs to the people of Bihar. It belongs to the people of Bihar who want to protest peacefully. The students sat there under the Gandhi statue for six hours.
You provoked the students and left from there yourself?
No one created any disturbance and there was no stone pelting and there was no fight. Because I myself was standing there at the forefront. The students had already decided that wherever they are stopped, they will stop. And what happened was that wherever the police stopped, everyone stopped. When Gandhi reached 1 kilometer further from the ground, the police stopped him. During this time all the students stopped peacefully. We all stood there for 2 hours. Then the Chief Secretary told the people talking that out of all the students, 5 people can come and talk to him. I myself announced that all the students who want to go home can do so and those who want to sit at Gandhi Maidan can go there. Those who heard me in the crowd started walking back to me at Gandhi Maidan. Only 2 to 2.5 thousand students were left there. They remained sitting for half an hour. Traffic was flowing, there was no problem. After I left from there, the police chased the unarmed students and beat them. We did not run away anywhere, we went and sat in Gandhi Maidan.
Prashant Kishor’s clarification on Kambal speaking video
The students were sitting there for 13 days. There was a small tent on the bank of the drain, where there were many mosquitoes. What happened that day was that when all the students left for Parliament, blankets were taken on rent at Gandhi Maidan where the children were protesting so that the children could use them in the cold. The children did not have that much money, so they returned the rented blanket. After the lathicharge at Gandhi Maidan, the children resolved that they would sit again at night because the protest should continue. During this time we got the news that it is 2.30 in the night and they do not have blankets in the cold, so please get some help. Then I went there at 2:30 to see that blankets were arranged for the children.
