Student protesters are back on the street preparing to burn effigies of the Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday.

The burning of effigies is likely to take place in all district headquarters towns today, August 21, 2026 evening.

At the other end, the state administration has clamped a ban on dharna, procession, and display of loudspeakers for 60 days ( two months) at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium. The ban was in the form of an order issued by the Sub Divisional Magistrate Kumar Rajat on Thursday ( August 20) evening.  

This means protesting students can not operate from the Jaipal Singh Munda stadium as they did earlier. However, the question is where and why they have returned to agitation mode? 

Why this sharp response from protesting students, just a day after the Jharkhand High Court stayed the 8 Notifications issued by the Soren government cancelling exams and tests conducted by the state government - recruitment agencies - Jharkhand Public Service Commission and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission on August 17, 2026? 

Student protesters have their own viewpoint. 

For instance, Ravindra Paswan, one of the protesting student leaders, alleged that the state government led by CM Soren had ‘deceived’ lakhs of students by first accepting their demands and then failing to demonstrate the same intent before the court.

"I would not like to make a comment on the High Court (order). But the commitment made to us by the govt, that all our demands have been accepted, that the exam has been cancelled and that there will be a proper investigation - we did not see this intent of the govt today," ANI news agency quotes Paswan as saying.

More, Paswan has alleged that the lawyer representing the government did not make any submission before the court. He said students had trusted the government and believed the chief minister would not "do politics with students".

Paswan announced that students would burn an effigy of Chief Minister Hemant Soren across all 24 districts of Jharkhand on Friday.

Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto said he respected the high court's order but questioned why the Advocate General did not appear before the court and why the government lawyer did not properly present the CID investigation report.

"This makes it seem like the Govt intends to cover it up," Mahto said in a video message. He warned that if the government attempted to deceive students or cover up the matter, their peaceful protest would continue.

Piyush Kumar also accused the government of cheating the students and questioned the manner in which it represented its case before the high court. He said the students would announce their next course of action soon.

Student leaders protesting the alleged irregularities in Jharkhand's recruitment exams have accused the Hemant Soren-led government of "deceit" after the Jharkhand High Court stayed its decision to cancel appointments made through the 11th and 13th JPSC examinations.

The student leaders alleged that the government had accepted their demands and announced the cancellation of the examinations and an investigation, but failed to properly defend its decision before the high court.

The high court on August 20 stayed the operation of government notifications cancelling the appointments of employees selected through the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations. It also stayed the order cancelling the appointments of food safety officers.

While hearing a batch of petitions challenging the government notifications, Justice Deepak Roshan asked the state to file its reply by September 15, the next date of hearing.

Following the court's order, candidates selected through the 11th and 13th JPSC examinations who were affected by the government's notifications will continue to hold their respective posts.

The court, however, made it clear that if any foul play is found in the appointment of a candidate during the investigation, the person will face the consequences and lose the service.