Ranka told supporters the government had been calling them "cockroach" and "virus" for weeks, and now it was the one on the back foot. "We will ensure that no legal action is taken against peaceful protesters,"he said, adding that CJP members would rather get arrested themselves than let that happen to their people.Delhi Police have filed FIRs tied to the July 20 clashes, and the number climbed as high as 15 in the days after, some invoking charges as serious as attempted murder. And the police have pushed back on claims of pellet gun use, saying force only came after protesters tried to breach barricades near Parliament Street and Connaught Place.Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who'd been on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation,was hospitalized during the standoff and kept declining IV fluids despite doctors urging him otherwise.
By Wednesday CJP had added a fourth demand on top of the first three, which included Pradhan's resignation, a payout of one crore rupees for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, and Wangchuk's release.It's a small thing on paper, one more line in a list of asks, but for families with kids sitting in jail cells over a protest,it's the only thing that matters right now. Talks with Union Minister J.P.Nadda continued through the week, and the government eventually signaled it would drop charges against demonstrators as part of a broader deal.
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