Nagpur: Till Friday night, Samvidhan Square echoed with slogans demanding justice, dissent and accountability. On Saturday evening, however, the city’s symbolic protest site awoke to drums of celebration as hundreds of youngsters, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), thronged to make merry following the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Samvidhan Square, the epicentre of weeks of demonstrations, turned into a festive carnival as the news of the resignation reached Gen Z. The beats of drums replaced chants of outrage, while loudspeakers blared patriotic songs, including Vande Mataram, as young men and women danced shoulder to shoulder. Cries of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ rang through the square, but this time as victory slogans rather than calls for resistance.The celebrations had the atmosphere of a community festival.
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Small groups strummed guitars, others formed circles to play fugdi, while many waved the Tricolour and embraced strangers. Laughter, selfies and spontaneous dance performances filled every corner of the square.Mahiya Gourkhede, a member of the CJP who just returned from New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, told TOI that their fight is not over yet. “We have won just one battle. There are many more changes, many more resignations required to make the education system truly leak-free. The CJP will continue with the movement,” she said. Merrily dancing with her fellow CJP members, Mahiya was jubilant. “If the resignation of one man can keep the other miscreants in line, then well and good. Otherwise, we are there,” she said.Perhaps the most striking aspect of the evening was the camaraderie. Most of those celebrating had never met before the protests began. Over weeks of demonstrations, they stood together demanding justice. On Saturday, they reunited not as strangers, but as fellow protesters celebrating what they believed was the culmination of their collective effort.Jitesh Chaudhary and Anshuman Mor, two 21-year-old college students, told TOI that they met for the first time during the protest, and collectively took part in the movement since. “For a minister to resign after sustained pressure from the youth is a great sign. We hope that this finally brings justice to all those who lost their lives due to the NEET paper leak,” they said.As darkness fell over Samvidhan Square — the site that had become synonymous with anger and resistance till the other day — offered a different image, one of relief, hope and jubilation, with young citizens celebrating what they saw as the power of peaceful, persistent protest.(Inputs by Sophie Hocquet, Tanishka Ghuguskar and Arya Pawar)
