Guwahati: Thousands of students from schools and educational institutions of Mizoram attended a peaceful protest in the city of Aizawl on Wednesday demanding that the government address the issue of repeated NEET paper leakage in the city, as they were joining students in Delhi who were protesting on the issue.
The protest was held outside of Vanapa Hall where students were raising slogans demanding resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for alleged examination irregularities. The protesters also demanded tougher punishment for the culprits and justice and proper remuneration for the students involved in the alleged paper leakage.
The march in Aizawl follows a similar pattern to the week-long protest that took place in front of the Parialment in New Delhi on the first day of the Monsoon Session when thousands of protesters turned out to demand Pradhan's resignation in connection with the controversy.
The students, in solidarity with environmentalist and education rights activist Sonam Wangchuk, alleged that the NDA government led by BJP had failed to consider students' interest and put students' academic future in jeopardy. The slogans of protestors were “Modi ko hatao, desh bachao”, “We want freedom from poverty, we want freedom from unemployment”, and “Inquilab Zindabad”.
The protest witnessed participation from both indigenous Mizo and non-Mizo students.
Several political parties and organisations, including the ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), and the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) took up the cause of the students.
The party was supportive of the students' demand for a fair and transparent examination system and was in overall support of the students, said ZPM Media and Publicity Chairman B. Lalchhanzova, who is also a Minister of State in the Mizoram government in a statement.
Releasing of the alleged NEET papers in the recent years have brought hardship to students of all classes from all over the country including the students from Mizoram who wanted to get admission to professional courses, he said. The frequent debates had caused financial losses, wasted study time and led to a lot of psychological pressure for the students, she said, adding that there is a need to hold everyone accountable and make changes in the examination process.