BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi condemns police action on CJP protesters: 'Painful to see young girls were mishandled'

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Education Minister Murli Manohar Joshi on Thursday expressed concern over the ongoing student protests in Delhi, saying it was ‘painful’ to see young students from across the country forced to spend days on the streets over their concerns about the examination system.

Josi, 92, also expressed anguish over the police action during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)'s march on 20 July in Delhi and said it was ‘very painful’ to see even young women being ‘brutally mishandled’.

“It is painful to see young students from different parts of the country assembled for days on the streets of New Delhi. Their anxieties and concerns regarding the examination system are genuine and must be handled with empathy and a desire to find a lasting solution,” Joshi said in a post on X in Hindi.

Joshi is the first BJP leader to come out in support of protesting students. He warned that the use of force on students could alienate large sections of Indian society from the national goal of achieving Viksit Bharat.

“I fervently hope that this is not treated merely as a law-and-order issue to be tackled through the use of force. It is very painful to see that even young girls were brutally mishandled. Such use of force shall alienate large sections of Indian society from the national goal of Viksit Bharat,” Joshi said.

Govt seeks dialogue

His remarks come at a time when the Union government is trying to establish a dialogue with protesting students at Jantar Mantar, who were seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over NEET paper leaks.

Union minister JP Nadda on Thursday invited the CJP for talks, but its leaders turned down the proposal, insisting that talks can be held only in a neutral venue.

Another Union Minister Jitendra Singh also said that the government tried to talk to CJP leadership four times since Wednesday requesting them to come for discussions again either at JP Nadda's house or office.

The CJP, in response, has insisted that talks should be held either at Jantar Mantar or a neautral venue.

Who is Murli Manohar Joshi?

Murli Manohar Joshi is one of the founding members and a senior leader of the BJP and served as its President from 1991 to 1993. Joshi, 92, is a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP's ideological fountainhead.

Joshi is a former professor of physics at University of Allahabad and was Union Human Resources & Development Minister (Union Education Minister) in the National Democratic Alliance government between 1998 and 2004.

Joshi is one of the key members of the BJP’s Margdarshak Mandal, an advisory body which includes senior leaders like Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, among others. The Mandal was formed in 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the government has decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks.

This was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first major reaction to protests in the national capital over paper leaks and growing demands for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

In response to PM Modi’s announcement, the CJP lamented that the Prime Minister was focusing on remedies after the damage was done, rather than addressing the root cause.

"The announcement of fast-track courts is not a real solution. It is merely a distraction. The Prime Minister is making a cruel joke with the future of millions of students across this country," said Ashutosh Ranka, national spokesperson, CJP.