Neelam Azad was caught outside Parliament.
New Delhi:
One of the four protesters arrested over the security breach at Parliament was desperate because she was unemployed, her family said. Shocking scenes were witnessed during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha yesterday when two men, Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, jumped into the hall from the public gallery. One of them opened a yellow smoke bottle and jumped from desk to desk to reach the speaker's chair.
Two other protesters, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde, were caught releasing colored smoke from an aerosol can on a street in front of Parliament. Neelam's family said that she completed the M.Phil research program and also passed the central exams, which are mandatory for teaching.
“She is highly qualified but couldn’t get a job. She was so stressed about this that she often said that I should just die because I am not able to earn two meals despite studying so much,” her mother Saraswati told reporters.
Neelam's brother Ramniwas told reporters that he came to know about the incident from one of their relatives who called him to watch TV.
“She studies in Hisar and is not associated with any political party. We don't know why she did that. We won't know until we meet her. We came to know about the incident through one of our brothers who called us. You.” “I just came home two days ago,” Ramniwas told reporters.
He said that Neelam moved to Haryana's Jind to prepare for competitive exams as she could not find a job in Hisar.
“She had completed her BA, MA, M.Phil and passed NET but was still unemployed. She moved to Jind six months ago and was preparing for the secondary school teacher eligibility test,” he said.
Ramniwas said she often raised the issue of unemployment during protests. She also took part in the year-long farmers' protest near Delhi demanding the repeal of three farm laws.
Manoranjan's father, Devaraje Gowda, said if his son did anything wrong, he should be “hanged”. “Parliament is ours…Many people have built this temple, from Mahatma Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru…It is not acceptable for anyone to behave like this towards the temple even if it is my son,” Mr Gowda said.
Lucknow resident Sagar Sharma has four members in his family including him. He earns his living by driving an e-rickshaw. His family said he told them he was going to Delhi for two days to take part in a protest.