The editorial Page: Anna Hazare to Sonam Wangchuk, a tale of two fasts — and a democracy 8 TUeSDAy, JUly 21, 2026 JournAliSm of CourAge KolKAtA, lAtE cIty, 16 PAgES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) l www.indianexpress.com DA I ly F r o M : A h M E DA b A D , c h A N D I gA r h , D E l h I , j A I P U r , Ko l K AtA , l U c K N o w , M U M b A I , N Ag P U r , PAt N A , P U N E , vA D o DA r A as monsoon session begins, Protests on streets outsiDe FinD echo in both houses oF ParLiament Protesters storm heart of Delhi, police use lathis and tear gas to stop march EXPRESS special From poll violence to RG Kar, how BJP govt is reopening old cases in Bengal Delhi Police personnel disperse the protesters as they attempt to march towards the House, at Parliament Street, on Monday. PrAvEEN KhANNA CJP submits demands to Centre; protest will continue, say Wangchuk, Dipke Pragynesh, sakshi chand, Devansh mittal, Drishti jain, alok singh, tabshir shams & nirbhay thakur New Delhi, July 20 tenS oF thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of education minister dharmendra Pradhan took over the heart of lutyens’s delhi on monday, breaking through police barricades and attempting to march to Parliament on the first day of the monsoon Session. While the main group of CockroachJantaParty(CJP)activistswereconfinedbypoliceto the vicinity of Jantar mantar, verylargenumbers—estimated tobe50,000ormore—ofmostly young men and women challenged the security forces at dozens of locations across the new delhi police district. Nadda meets CJP team, but Govt signals: Will listen, won’t commit New Delhi, July 20 AFter neArly three weeks of protests at Jantar mantar by the Cockroach Janta Party, headlined by the hunger strike of activist Sonam Wangchuk, the Government finally swung into action monday, with Union minister J P nadda meeting CJP representatives. outliningtheGovernment’s approach, even as thousands of protestersmarchedtowardsParliament demanding education ministerdharmendraPradhan’s resignation, a senior minister CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka with Union Health Minister J P Nadda in New Delhi, Monday. ANI toldTheIndianExpressthatthe protesters have been given a hearing but there has been no Sons injured, a mother breaks down: ‘Attack on country’s children’ commitmentontheirdemands. “the protest is over,” he »continueD on Page 2 118personnel injured,70 protesters detained,says DelhiPolice AS the anger over paper leaks spilled onto the streets of centraldelhionmondayandledto pitchedbattlesbetweenthepolice and protesters demanding the resignation of Union education minister dharmendra Pradhan, the opposition targeted the Centre and called for a discussion on the matter in Parliament. the demand for Pradhan’sresignationfoundan echoinbothhouses,despiteattempts by senior BJP leaders »continueD on Page 2 E. EXPlainEd Opposition’s hopes In the current demonstrations, some Opposition leaders see an echo of the Anna Hazare movement. The BJP benefitted from Hazare’s campaign against corruption, eventually unseating the Congress from power in 2014. That is the sort of impact the Opposition is hoping to achieve this time too. Happening today lFarmers From Punjab are scheduled to hold a rally in protest against the proposed India-US trade deal in Delhi. ltmc Factions, congress to hold separate Martyrs’ Day rallies to mark 1993 police firing PaGe 5 HC tO COnsideR sOnam tRansFeR tO PRivate HOsPital sweety Kumari New Delhi, July 20 »continueD on Page 2 inSidE In 2021 violence, 458 new inquiries have been started, 181 fresh FIRs filed asad rehman Liz mathew Opp backs protesters, sees chance in ‘organic anger’ against Govt Injured protesters Devan Rathi (right) and Gaurav (top left) with their mother Santosh at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. vIDhEEShA KUNtAMAllA Vidheesha Kuntamalla New Delhi, July 20 At AroUnd 4 pm, amid the clamourofslogans,ambulance sirens and exploding teargas shells, hundreds of protesters streamed out of the gates of an iconic gurdwara in the heart of delhi — their refuge on a tumultuous afternoon. Someclutcheddamphandkerchiefs to their faces to ward offtheteargas,othersheldhalf- finished plastic water bottles theyhadhurriedlyfilledinside, and a few carried placards that read: “We are with Sonam Wangchuk.” only minutes earlier, many of them had rushed into GurdwaraBanglaSahibtoescapethe police lathi-charge and chaos unfoldingonParliamentStreet, where thousands of people had joined the CJP-led march to demand the resignation of »continueD on Page 2 An injured Delhi Police personnel near Jantar Mantar. PrAvEEN KhANNA Business as Usual By eP UNNy Pragynesh New Delhi, July 20 the delhI Police said “more than 118 police personnel”, includingsomeseniorofficers,sustained injuries as protesters attacked them with “stones and other objects” and “resorted to large-scaleviolence”onmonday. “during the scuffle, around 60protesterswerealsoreported to (have been)... injured,” it said »continueD on Page 2 Russia-Ukraine war: Four LATE GOAL GIVES SPAIN wORLD TITLE, LEAVES ARGENTINA DISTRAUGHT Indian sailors among 10 As curtains fall, Spain have final killed as missile hits ship say: ‘Huge feeling of liberation’ l shubhajit roy & shaju Philip New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, July 20 In the first deaths of Indian seafarersintherussia-Ukraine war, four Indians were among 10 killed in a russian missile strike on a merchant vessel departingUkraine’ssouthernport of odesa on Sunday. Indiawasquicktocondemn the attack, without directly blaming russia. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, russian forces »continueD on Page 2 EXPRESS aT World Cup sandip g New Jersey, July 20 Grain carrier MV Golden Leo after it was hit by a Russian missile in the Black Sea close to Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday. AP A SWArm of raging red shirts piled over Ferran torres when thefinalwhistleblewatthemetlifeStadium,crowningSpainas the World Champions for the secondtimeintheirhistory.torres’s goal in the 106th minute, which decided a turgid and Spain’s Ferran Torres lifts the trophy with teammates. rEUtErS combative1-0finalwinbereftof dramatictwiststhatdefinedthe tournament, would be as im- mortalised as Andres Iniesta’s extra-time winner in 2010. »continueD on Page 2 Kolkata Kolkata, July 20 From the 2021 post-election violence in West Bengal to the 2024 r G Kar medical College rape and murder, and the 2025 death of a schoolgirl in a bomb blast, the BJP government in West Bengal has reopened several old cases in the state. It has also hinted that it is just the start, with several high-profile cases on its radar, calling it dismantlingof“yearsofcover-ups under the previous regime”. In a statement recently, Chief minister Suvendu Adhi- CM Suvendu Adhikari has cited public concern over “evidence tampering” and “institutional suppression” for reopening the RG Kar rape-murder probe. FIlE kari said: “Under the previous regime, culprits were distinguished by their political affiliations and police action was heavilyinfluencedbythepolitical identity of the victims. our government operates differently.” It is a change from “law of the ruler” to “rule of the law”, he said. »continueD on Page 2