Written by Sweety Kumari & Arghya Chakravorty
Massive crowds gripped central Kolkata on Friday as the nationwide student agitation over exam paper leaks spilled onto the city’s roads. As agitators marched in the afternoon, clashes erupted in Esplanade, with the protesters allegedly pelting stones and hurling shoes at the police, and the police resorting to lathicharge to disperse the crowds.
The massive protest march, seeking Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, started at the Sealdah market metro station around 1.45pm. The confrontation took place at Esplanade’s Dorina Crossing at around 5.50pm, towards the end of the rally.
Some members of the media were also injured after a few agitators allegedly heckled them and beat them up.
Speaking to mediapersons later in the day, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, “Those media persons who are injured should file an FIR. We will take action and culprits will not be spared. Is this a protest against NEET?”
“Those who have attacked journalists will be punished. Wait for a few days… We have identified them. They have no connection with NEET protests,” added the CM, who met with the injured journalists.
What began as a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against the NEET exam leak, organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has now visibly evolved into a nationwide movement with Kolkata joining the ranks Friday.
As the protest started, Sealdah remained packed with thousands of protesters shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dharmendra Pradhan, apart from the ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (Long live the revolution) and ‘Azadi’ (freedom) slogans.
The Kolkata stir — organised by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M) — saw massive participation of people from across political lines. SFI state secretary Debanjan Dey was seen spearheading the protest.
The TMC’s Chhatra Parishad and the Youth Congress also joined in the SFI’s rally, marching from the Vidyasagar statue on College Street towards Esplanade — presenting a united opposition front on the streets. Flags of Left student unions such as SFI, AIDSO and AISA were also visible at the protest.
After being refused permission to organise an independent march, the CJP had also extended its support to the SFI-led march, with supporters carrying Cockroach placards alongside Left activists.
The convergence of separate rallies at Esplanade severely impacted traffic throughout the afternoon, as commuters experienced major delays along College Street, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bowbazar, BB Ganguly Street and SN Banerjee Road, prompting Kolkata Traffic Police to deploy additional forces and issue route diversions.
Tensions flared up at the Dharmatala intersection at around 5.50pm as police personnel attempting to remove blockades and clear the intersection were met with heavy resistance from agitators.
Police officials claimed that some protesters began fighting among themselves following rumours that “outsiders” had infiltrated the rally. Consequently, the situation shortly escalated into a tense stand-off.
Protesters hurled shoes, stones, bottles, and other objects at the police, with the administration deploying Rapid Action Force to control the situation.
Around 6 PM, the busy roads of Dharmatala came to a complete standstill as demonstrators gathered in front of the Dorina Crossing in Esplanade. The police then attempted to disperse the crowds toward Rani Rashmoni Avenue and were seen charging toward the protesters with raised batons. Several protesters alleged that they were lathi-charged by the police and security personnel.
PTI reported a senior police officer as saying that security forces resorted to baton-charge to disperse the agitators.
CJP Kolkata member Dedipya Ganguly said: “Some vandalism was created by some people who were there to make our protest unruly, and we condemn this.”
People from all walks of life and across age groups marched in Kolkata on Friday to seek action against the exam leaks.
“There is no question of backing down even an inch from these core demands,” said Sharmishtha Das, a Fine Arts student who joined the demonstrations. “My friends joined the protest in Delhi. When I found out about the Kolkata march, I canceled all my plans to show solidarity with students across India who have suffered because of paper leaks.”
Kalyan Chakraborty, a B.Tech student at B.P. Poddar Institute, stressed that the movement extends beyond a single examination. “This agitation is not just about NEET; it is against the NTA and the systemic collapse of our examination framework.”
Sreshta Chatterjee, a young college graduate who came to the protest with his 60-year-old father said, “The conducting of the NEET exams in itself has been a complete abomination. The state of the media in this country today is rather concerning. Allegations of external forces in the protests at Jantar Mantar are manufactured and baseless. Nobody is funding these movements except for the people themselves, who are coming out on the streets to raise their voice against the government and to call for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.”
A 17-year-old student, Rohit sought the resignation of the NTA chairman, as well.
Rahul Dey, a student at Vishwa Bharati University, said that he had briefly joined the stir at Jantar Mantar with his friends earlier, and had now come back to Kolkata to show solidarity with the students.
Children and teenagers, too, joined the stir. Amir and Azan, 14, said they too felt the need to join the protest. “We are fighting for our future and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan,” they said.
An elderly person, who preferred to identify himself as just ‘a senior citizen of this country’, said, “The BJP has destroyed India and is out to destroy its future. I am very proud of the students and the youth of this country who have come out on the streets to raise their voice against the government and to save this country.”
Commenting on PM Modi’s late-night statement, he said it was just another “jumla” (rhetoric).
A middle-aged woman, Cordelia Mishra said: “Our government has been turning more fascist in its conduct which has only become more obvious with the way they have been treating the students across the country and particularly in Jantar Mantar. I am proud of the youth and the Gen-Z, some of our brave youth even dined at our pub. I have two children and little grandchildren of my own, and I felt the need to come out in support of the youth today and bless their struggle.”
State Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar accused the BJP-led government of attempting to fracture the student movement. ”During the 10-year tenure of the Modi government, question papers for various exams have been leaked repeatedly. Rahul Gandhi was the first to raise his voice against this crumbling education system, and today that protest has transformed into a mass youth movement. The Central Government is making every effort to break this unity, but the agitation will not stop.”
(Arghya Chakravorty is an intern at Kolkata office of The Indian Express)