New Delhi: The All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) has extended its support to the parliament march called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday (July 20). The CJP has been protesting at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in the examination system and has demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The protest was joined by climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk, who began an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on June 28. It has received support from student groups and political leaders, including members of the Congress party and the Samajwadi Party, student groups including the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Bhim Army. Several AISA students are on hunger strike at the site.In a statement, AIFRTE said it stood in solidarity with Wangchuk and the student and youth activists on hunger strike and declared its “wholehearted support” for the Parliament march on July 20. It also appealed to all its member organisations and individual activists, particularly those based in Delhi, to participate in the march in large numbers.“AIFRTE also declares its wholehearted support for the Parliament March on July 20, 2026 and appeals to all its member organisations and individual activists, particularly those based in Delhi, to participate in the march in large numbers,” said the statement.AIFRTE is a platform of public intellectuals, individual activists and organisations of students, teachers, parents and other groups engaged in civic rights struggles.Addressing Wangchuk and the students protesting at the site, AIFRTE pledged to “continue and strengthen the struggle that your initiative has publicised”.Also read: ‘Have Lost Faith’: Gitanjali Angmo Moves HC Seeking Sonam Wangchuk’s Immediate Transfer From Safdarjung HospitalPer the statement, AIFRTE supports a fully state-funded common education system providing “free, equitable, quality, rational and secular education from KG to PG, including professional education”. It also opposes centralisation, communalisation and commercialisation of education and centralised entrance examinations such as CUET, NEET and JEE. “Instead, we uphold the rights of state governments within India’s federal structure and the academic autonomy of institutions of higher education,” said the statement.AIFRTE said its concerns include but go beyond examination irregularities. Prof Vikas Gupta of AIFRTE said, “We are against homogenisation of education, against centralisation and against the idea that the CBSE, which only 25% of students follow, is made the standard for the central examinations. To us, the issue is much larger than corruption.” He explained that outsourcing within the education sector – such as the setting up of the National Testing Agency to conduct examinations – was a major concern.The statement, issued on July 16, also appeals to the students and Wangchuk to consider ending their hunger strike, citing concerns over their health and the need to sustain a longer struggle.On July 18, Wangchuk was forcibly removed from the protest site by Delhi Police and taken to Safdarjung Hospital, where he has continued his hunger strike. Earlier, the Delhi high court said his health must be monitored, which the police cited as its reason to remove the activist. The hospital has said Wangchuk was weak due to prolonged fasting and required continued observation and treatment. Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced an indefinite hunger strike soon after Wangchuk was removed from the site on Saturday by Delhi Police.AIFRTE has said that Wangchuk’s removal has not changed its position. It has appealed to its member organisations and individual activists, particularly those in Delhi and neighbouring areas, to participate in the July 20 Parliament march.AIFRTE’s Board of Advisers includes academics, writers, activists and public figures such as economist and JNU Professor Emeritus Prabhat Patnaik, former Lucknow University Vice-Chancellor Rooprekha Verma, writer and social justice activist Devanooru Mahadeva, writer and secularism advocate Ram Puniyani, former Gujarat Vidyapith Vice-Chancellor Sudarshan Iyengar and educationist V. Vasanthi Devi.