Shivaji Park fills with supporters as Pradhan's resignation turns Tiranga March into celebration

Shivaji Park on Sunday was packed with people from all over the city at 10 am What was originally planned as a lsquoTiranga Marchrsquo was changed to a celebratory gathering as Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from the post which was one of the core demands of the protest led by Cockroach Janta PartyAccording to a senior police official security arrangements had been in place from 7 am and traffic movement through Swatantryaveer Sawarkar Road where the centre stage was installed remained disrupted from 8 am onwardsThe crowd seemed to peak around 11 am At 1110 am gates of Shivteerth opened and organisers including Uddhav Thackeray Sanjay Raut Aaditya Thackeray and Amit Thackeray walked out to address the gathering MNS chief Raj Thackeray began the address by reading out the list of NEET aspirants who allegedly died by suicide due to the paper leakHe called for a two minute silence to pay homage to them Political jabs followed from Uddhav who extended his appreciation to Gen Z by calling them lsquoVishnu Avtaarrsquo who had successfully made this ldquoa national level remove BJP movementrdquomidday sent a query to DCP Central Zone 3 Mahendra Pandit asking about the total number of detentions if any but didnrsquot receive a response by press timeProtester SpeakSadafi Khan protesterlsquoI gave the NEET five years ago I know how tough the exam and its preparation is With the resignation and the other points accepted by the government yesterday I feel that the justice to a certain extent has been served for the 20 who took their lives due to the NEET leak in MayrsquoAjinkya Jadhav gym trainer Shivaji Park residentlsquoI am here with my kid He is in junior KG but he will also face these competitive exams someday and I wish these issues donrsquot continue till thenrsquoInsha Dawat protesterlsquoI just feel elatedhellip there is no better way to even express myself All of us who have screamed our lungs out to ask for what is right have now been taken seriously I really am happy todayrsquoAiysha Khan Sadafirsquos motherlsquoI saw my daughter suffering as she gave the NEET She fell into severe depression five years ago I know what the parents of this yearrsquos NEET candidates must be feeling That helpless feeling is not a kind one on the whole family As the Gen Z protesters this time have managed to make the government bend to their demands I hope from the bottom of my heart that no one suffers the same againrsquoGladson Nanda video editor Mira Road residentlsquoI have left the student life for six years now and still exam time memories come in my nightmares Exam preparation is always very stressful for students and they absolutely donrsquot need these lapses by the government to deal with A paper leak is criminal and it shouldnrsquot be toleratedrsquoDurgesh Pragati Satish Amble creative designerMy poster Swatch Sansad was to show that words which had been used to clean the country literally can also be useful in the figurative sense This whole protest has shown us that Gen Z is not just an age bracket I myself am 32 but I strongly resound with the same feeling the younger generation has Gen Z over the course of last two months has become a sprit which we are seeing in people as old as 80 or 90 and maybe this is what we needed for the future of our countryHe said Accountability isnt something we exercise once every five years its a continuous civic responsibility Governments change Parties change Institutions remain Accountability must remain with themAmble added perhaps its time we stop calling them kids They have just reshaped a national conversation Its time we started recognising them for what they truly are lsquoresponsible citizensSariya Khan architect Andheri residentlsquoThis is just the start We need many more reforms and I will continue to raise my voicersquoSahil Shah protesterlsquoI just came back to India a few weeks ago after finishing my masters and today I am here to support and celebrate with everyone The acceptance of our demands is a symbolic win for us and I continue to hope that because we the protesters have shown that we are not shy of questioning authority no such leak occurs againrsquoMangesh Koyande mountaineering coach Dombivli residentlsquoI believed in the cause so I came here GenZ are right The government has made too many mistakes without accountability Their irresponsible behaviour led to death of 21 students Will they come back after Pradhanrsquos resignation The deeper problem of irresponsibility needs correctionrsquoOmkar Padekar engineering student Chembur residentlsquoI am a PCMB student had given both NEET amp JEE IN 2024 I know how anxious one can become during these preparations NEET was leaked that year as well I gave up and couldnrsquot reappear Fortunately I cleared JEE and I got into an engineering college But what about those who donrsquot have the privilege of a second chanceCelebrations continueThe protest on Sunday ended around 12 pm as the organisers of the protest Shivsena UBT and MNS chiefs Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray left after the national anthem was played But many of the younger students stuck around Shivaji Park still celebrating and chanting till 130 pm and police personnel present at the gathering gradually cleared out the crowds to restore traffic flowBrief march near ChaityabhumiWithin 300 meters from the morning event site a crowd of around 50 gathered at 210 pm to raise victory slogans and student concerns near the Dr BR Ambedkar Chaityabhumi The eight minute gathering remained peaceful and no student was detained by the police According to one of the leaders this gathering was organised by MASS Mumbai Against Suppression of Students a group of all Mumbaibased student organisationsldquoFollowing the Shivaji Park gathering we had planned to gather here around 1 pm to celebrate the victory after 36 days of struggle by students Police didnrsquot cooperate and prevented students from reaching here they dispersed them in the opposite directionrdquo claimed a MASSassociated protesterSlogans raisedgtgt Kal bhi woh hare the aaj bhi woh harengegtgt NTA radd karogtgt SAARE mukadme wapas logtgt Chatro pe hamla nahi sahengegtgt Vidyarthi ekjut zindabadgtgt Jitenge bhai jite hain chatra nojawan jitengegtgt Jai Bhimgtgt Chatra ekta zindabadlsquoDouble standardsrsquoAnikent Sonawane state secretary Lokshahi Yuva Sangathan MASS MemberlsquoWe had planned this to pay respect to Babasaheb After all itrsquos the constitution that he wrote which gave students their right to protest which led to Pradhanrsquos resignation We also wanted to raise studentsrsquo concerns regarding NTA and the government But we werenrsquot allowed to Our students were prevented from reaching here Why did the police discriminate when it came to our celebration Itrsquos us students who have been at it since the last 36 days They didnrsquot have any issues with the gathering that the Thackerays organised then why usrsquo36No of days protest was held