As Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike enters its 19th day, critics question why the government has remained silent despite mounting concerns over student welfare, observes Harishchandra.
Opposition leaders have sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to 'forgive' young protesters who used abusive language, accusing him of deflecting from issues of alleged police action and a 'broken education system'.
'Let the world know that India's Gen Z has now moved out of their social media world and is ready to face the lathis, the tear gas shells or the spiked-dandas of cops.'
The Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) had on Thursday told the Supreme Court they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.
The Delhi High Court has questioned the Centre's decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, asking how the rights of 150 million users can be curtailed due to concerns over a few miscreants. The court reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating he needs to change his "dil ka angle" (heart's perspective) rather than camera angles to connect with Gen Z, following his Instagram outreach to student protesters. She also condemned the government's handling of student protests and the widespread issue of paper leaks.
'But they had nothing to negotiate as the government did not negotiate. It is completely the fault of the government as they dumped it on the police.'
Voters who exercise their franchise in favour of a particular political dispensation do not do so unconditionally. Their loyalty is subject to maintaining trust and living up to their expectations. It is subject to allowing the freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution, points out Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Several protesters alleged they were detained or manhandled during the march, with some claiming they suffered injuries.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk has stated he will end his indefinite hunger strike if the Centre provides an unequivocal assurance that no punitive or retaliatory action will be taken against students and youth who participated in protests against alleged examination irregularities.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has accused Reliance Group, which has a partial Meta stake, of lobbying for a ban on Telegram in India and sabotaging its access for users outside India through BGP hijacking. A senior telecom industry source dismissed these claims as 'fake news,' stating Durov confused Reliance Communications with Reliance Industries Ltd. The allegations come as the Indian government has ordered Google and Apple to delist Telegram temporarily and disable its message-editing feature in India due to concerns over paper leaks in the NEET-UG examination.
A special CBI court in Godhra on Saturday granted the probe agency four-day custody of Jay Jalaram School's principal Purushottam Sharma, teacher Tushar Bhatt, and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra, all of whom are alleged to be involved in irregularities in the May 5 NEET-UG exam in Godhra.
Pradhan further said the opposition had a chance to raise this issue during the motion of thanks to the President's address and asserted the government was ready for any type of discussion.
'I do not think the scam is limited to 1,563 students. The number is too low to have caused such an inflation in the marks'
'After more than 12 years in power, he has been forced to retreat under public pressure. The education minister's resignation is the biggest political climbdown of his government so far.'
Police forces from several adjoining districts were requisitioned to man key junctions, sensitive locations and government buildings in the Lutyens' area ahead of the march.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by Abhijit Dipke, is staging a protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks. Dipke has stated he will not leave until their demands are met and has requested Delhi Police to extend permission for the ongoing demonstration.
A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately, a senior Ministry of Education (MoE) official said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to students for alleged police brutality and resign along with Home Minister Amit Shah. Gandhi criticised the government's handling of student protests concerning the education and testing system, highlighting the use of force against demonstrators near Parliament.
'For the rest of his tenure, people will start with the assumption that even Modi can be forced to bow down'
'We can integrate AI and tech into education, but that is just a means and not an end.' 'Ultimately, we need to control what happens in a classroom and we need to let teachers innovate their teaching style to suit the needs of Gen Z and beyond.'
The first thought Ajay Duggal had when he saw his nephew, his eyes shut, his face, neck and chest pockmarked with tiny red perforations, was this: "What if the 19-year-old loses his sight completely." Sahil Lochab was allegedly hit by a pellet gun in his right eye during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest in Delhi on June 20. His uncle asked him what he could see from the eye. The reply chilled him - there was nothing. No blur, no haze, only darkness.
The National Testing Agency, however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.
The CJP's rapid rise on social media reflects growing digital dissent and youth frustration with issues like unemployment and exam-paper leaks.
A wellspring fuelling the CJP tsunami is the high levels of youth unemployment. Millions of youngsters, including extremely over-qualified people, apply in desperation for any job that is advertised. No government has been able to deliver on this front and things may get worse as artificial intelligence enters the workforce, points out Devangshu Datta.
Stepping up attack against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday announced the launch of a nationwide campaign to demand his resignation and exhorted students, farmers and civil society groups to join him at Jantar Mantar on June 28.
Observing that a re-test has to be ordered if sanctity of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 is 'lost', the Supreme Court on Monday sought information from the National Testing Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about timing of question paper leak and duration between leak and actual test.
The top court, however, refused to stay the counselling of successful candidates for admissions to Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Dental Surgery and other courses.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has lodged a formal complaint with the Delhi Police regarding a series of coordinated cyber attacks targeting its post-result services portal. The board confirmed that all attacks were successfully mitigated, and no data breach or compromise of information was detected. The attacks aimed to destabilise the platform and potentially extract information, occurring amidst existing controversies for CBSE concerning alleged mismatches in Class 12 answer sheets.
Before sitting on the fast, Wangchuk, along with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, visited Rajghat and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke plans to return to India to launch a peaceful protest seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination-related lapses.
'Aspiring doctors have put in years of their lives to study in preparation for NEET exams as they start studies from Class 9 to get good marks.' 'And today, after the NEET paper leak, these students even after getting good marks are unable to get admission in any good medical college (because of inflated merit marks due to the paper leak).' 'They are thinking, was it worthwhile to study so hard for the examinations to become a doctor?'
'While not everyone may be pleased with a NEET retest judgment, it would restore fairness and integrity to the process, giving all students an equal opportunity based on merit.' 'This decision would correct the injustices faced by deserving students who were disadvantaged by the initial compromised exam'
'When you are standing for what the Constitution guarantees you, you are not alone.'
The credibility of the examination system has also come under question, they said.
Asserting the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) wants a constructive debate on the NEET issue, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said it is unfortunate that they were not allowed to raise it in the Parliament.
The chairman and secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have been removed from their positions following allegations of irregularities in the digital evaluation system for the class 12 examination process.
The cancellation of UGC-NET, amid the raging row over NEET, led to questions being raised over National Testing Agency's (NTA) capability to conduct exams of larger magnitude.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the BJP's "real and ultimate target" in seeking a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha is to amend the Constitution to end reservation, rather than genuinely implement women's reservation.
Karnataka has the highest number of medical seats in the country at 11,745, of which 3,750 seats were in government institutions and 7,995 seats were in private colleges.
