India police clash with protesters a month after Gen Z demonstrations

Police used water cannons and batons as a few thousand protesters broke through security barricades in Bihar’s capital.Indian students and unemployed youth have clashed with police as they marched towards the residence of the chief minister of the eastern state of Bihar, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, demanding access to Jobs and transparency in recruitment exams.The government forces in Bihar used water cannons and lathis – the Indian version of batons – as a few thousand protesters broke through security barricades in the state capital Patna, videos seen by Al Jazeera showed on Tuesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Sedition to anthem: Many lives of ‘Azadi’ chants in India’s youth protestslist 2 of 4Will India’s ‘Cockroach’ movement force Modi’s BJP to rethink its politics?list 3 of 4India’s ‘Cockroach’ movement makes schools next battleground against Modilist 4 of 4India used pellets, grenades on Gen Z Protests: What Amnesty report revealsend of listThe demonstrations came a month after massive Gen Z Protests in New Delhi pushed for the ouster of India’s education minister over alleged irregularities in conducting key competitive examinations.The July 25 resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also marked a significant political defeat for PM Modi, who has tried to maintain a strongman image, while India has continued to slide in multiple democratic indices under his rule since 2014.Police in Bihar, home to about 130 million people, detained at least 25 protesters in Patna and released them later, according to the Indian Express newspaper.Local police accused some protesters of attacking security personnel.“Police will identify those involved in stone pelting at police and will take action against them,” Patna Police Superintendent Kartikeya K Sharma told reporters on Tuesday.The Protests began last week with unemployed youth demanding jobs, but they later expanded to include calls for education reform.Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said his office was “listening to every student’s voice”.