NEW DELHI: Kerala Chief Minister, V.D. Satheesan, on Tuesday joined the ongoing students' protest in the national Capital, lending his support to the agitation along with the top Congress leadership which had gathered to condemn the police action against the protesting students.
Satheesan, who is in Delhi for meetings with Union Ministers and the Congress high command, visited the protest venue after completing his official engagements.
His participation underlined the Congress party's decision to stand firmly with the students and their demands.
Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, several Members of Parliament from Kerala and other senior Congress leaders were also present at the protest.
The Chief Minister interacted with the students and expressed solidarity with their agitation.
Congress leaders said the students were raising issues that deserved to be heard and resolved through dialogue.
They also said the right to hold peaceful protests is an important part of democracy.
The protest, launched by the students under the CJP banner, has been continuing in Delhi for the past several days and has drawn support from various political parties and student organisations.
Hundreds of students have been demanding that the Centre address their concerns over repeated NEET paper leaks and take corrective steps like the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The presence of the senior Congress leadership, including Satheesan, gave the protest a strong political dimension.
Party leaders accused the Union government of remaining silent on the issues raised by the students and urged it to respond without delay.
For Satheesan, the visit came in the middle of a busy schedule in the national Capital.
Besides attending meetings with Union Ministers on matters concerning Kerala, he also held discussions with the Congress leadership on organisational and political issues.
His decision to join the protest reflected the Congress' attempt to link the students' agitation with its wider campaign on democratic rights and accountability from the NDA government.
With Parliament in session and the protest showing no signs of losing momentum, the Congress is expected to continue raising the issue both inside Parliament and on the streets, while extending support to the students' movement.
--IAN Iran says it launched fresh strikes on US bases, assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan
Tehran, July 21 (IANS) Iran's armed forces said Tuesday that they have carried out missile and drone strikes against the US bases, assets and infrastructure in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan following another round of US attacks on Iran.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in statements carried by its official news outlet Sepah News that its aerospace forces targeted US air defence systems, radar facilities, communications infrastructure and other military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait, as well as US military facilities in Jordan, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The IRGC said the attacks were carried out in ‘’retaliation’ for recent US strikes on Iran and were intended to pave the way for broader missile and drone operations against US military targets in the region.
Separately, Iran's army said it launched missile and drone strikes against several US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, including Camp Arifjan, Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base and Shaikh Isa Air Base.
The IRGC also said it had struck an Amazon data centre in Bahrain, saying the attack was in response to a recent US strike on the under-construction Darkhovin Nuclear Power Plant in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province.
Early Tuesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had completed another round of strikes against Iran, targeting military command centres, missile and drone launch sites, maritime capabilities and air defence systems. It said the operations were aimed at degrading Iran's ability to continue attacking commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC also announced that two oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via what it described as the "dangerous" southern route had caught fire after explosions and were stopped by Iranian naval forces. It warned shipping companies against using the route and reiterated that the Strait would remain closed as long as the United States continued what it called "malicious actions" in the region.
