New Delhi: Student organisations cutting across party lines on Saturday celebrated the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, asserting that their protests would continue until their other demands are met. ‘
Pradhan earlier announced that he was stepping down from his post to prevent “anti-national forces from exploiting it, preserving national unity, ensuring that not a single Indian student’s future gets entangled in legal complexities”.
Neha Bora, a PhD scholar at JNU and one of the three AISA members who were on indefinite hunger strike along with activist Sonam Wangchuk, expressed her jubilation on X, saying “Congratulations on the defeat @dpradhanbjp”.
However, many student organisations said they would continue their movement until the National Testing Agency (NTA) is scrapped, and the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, is withdrawn.
Activists of the Congress-affiliated student body, National Students’ Union of India, announced a “victory march” from the organisation’s headquarters on Raisina Road to mark Pradhan’s resignation.
In a post on X, former national president of NSUI Varun Choudhary said, “This is the victory of millions of Gen Z and young Indians who stood up against a failed Modi Government.”
“But this is only the beginning. The demands of students have not yet been fully met,” he further wrote, adding that Pradhan’s resignation alone is not enough.
He added, “Students want accountability for those who ordered and carried out the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters.”
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) said their movement would continue until the National Testing Agency (NTA) is scrapped, the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, is withdrawn, and cases against protesters are withdrawn
The celebrations came after loud cheers erupted at the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest site at Jantar Mantar, where founder Abhijeet Dipke announced Pradhan’s resignation before the gathering, calling it the first breakthrough in the outfit’s 36-day agitation against the NEET paper leak.
The protest, which began on June 20, intensified after police action against protesters on July 20 and later drew support from several student groups and activists, including environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, who undertook a prolonged hunger strike in solidarity with the movement.
