Several positive developments took place post-midnight on the NEET paper leak issue. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk called off his 26-days-old hunger strike in the presence of two central ministers J. P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh.
The Centre has given him written assurance that it would withdraw all cases filed against students, and give compensation to the families of those students who committed suicide after the NEET paper leak.
Around midnight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a video message promising stringent punishment for those responsible for NEET-UG paper leak. He said, work has already begun to set up special fast track courts in Delhi and other cities to handle paper leak cases. On Friday, Cockroach Janata Party leaders met two central ministers at V. P. Patel House. They told the ministers that their demand for ouster of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was non-negotiable.
Millions of students are worried because of exam paper leak. But some political parties are trying to hijack their agitation. Parliament has not been able to transact any business for the last five days because opposition is insisting on its demand for resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan before any debate is initiated. On one hand, students are sitting on dharna at Jantar Mantar, and on the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is trying to sit on dharna, first near the PM’s residence and later near Gandhi Smriti.
MPs belonging to left parties, Samajwadi Party, RJD, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and Indian Union Muslim League joined Rahul Gandhi in his dharna. It seems Rahul Gandhi is trying to keep the reins of the paper leak protest movement in his hands and is searching for fresh options daily. The question now is, how can a solution be found in such an atmosphere of mistrust? The problems of agitating students are genuine. The popular sentiments are with the students. Nobody wants any exam paper leak.
Nobody wants students to be subjected to lathi charge. If a single student is injured, it is a blow to our society. Let something positive emerge from this agitation and crisis. Let the students regain the trust that the government will stamp out exam paper leaks. Those engaged in exam paper leaks are powerful people, they are wealthy, they easily get bail and their release from jail rubs salt into the wounds of common people.
The law should be such that these corrupt individuals must never get bail. The legal provisions for such crimes must be more than three to five years’ jail. There is need to strike fear in the minds of those who leak exam question papers. But any solution can emerge only through talks and not through confrontation. For that to happen, both sides must come to the negotiation table.
I think Sonam Wangchuk is right, when he says that no cases should be slapped against those who were staging peaceful protest. The impression created in the minds of students that no positive outcome can emerge from peaceful protests must be removed. It was only when the government gave written assurance that no action would be taken against peaceful protesters, Sonam Wangchuk broke his hunger strike. Wangchuk is an experienced man and he can work as a bridge between the government and students.
Normally there are no leaders in such agitations, but a mediator is required. Last evening in my ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ show on India TV, I spoke to former Solicitor General Harish Salve, who was in London. Salve said, removing a minister will not solve problems. What is required is changing the examination system so that there must not be a shred of doubt in the minds of students.
Salve suggested the creation of an independent, autonomous body, which must have oversight of all national level exams. Secondly, he suggested enacting a stringent law against paper leak mafia. Under the present BNS legal provisions, those who are guilty easily get bail and jail provisions are minimal. The new law, he said, must fix all such loopholes. It should end bail provisions for such accused, like the PMLA, and life term imprisonment must be the maximum punishment. I hope the government will think over his suggestions and enact a law.
Presently, the government’s focus is on restoring the trust in the mind of students. Let me mention here, there have been incidents in which anti-social elements, in the guise of protesters, attacked police officers with pointed stones and knives. They are not students. They are those who want to incite violence by taking undue advantage of the student protests. In my student life, I was beaten several times by police.
I know how anarchic elements infiltrate when students stage protests. In this modern age, everybody carries a cellphone. People make videos from all angles, rioters wear masks to evade tracing, and they use tools like BitChat to bypass internet surveillance. They depend on device-to-device contact, which neither requires a SIM, nor a mobile number or an e-mail address.
For the police, it is not possible to map such phone calls. Those who attack policemen tarnish the entire student movement. People must be on guard against such elements. If police takes action against such elements, people should not defend the rioters. I understand the pain of the students. In my student days, I had been part of student agitations, I was beaten up by police and even thrown into jail. In those days, student protests were free from the influence of political parties. Students used to carry out agitation themselves.
Nowadays it is difficult to differentiate between a student and a party activist. Secondly, many videos that are posted on social media become sources of misinformation. Baseless rumours are circulated, leading to confusion and violence. I can say from my own experience that violence is not the path for solution. If both sides are sincere, they should set their ego aside and come to the negotiation table.
Examination paper leak is a serious issue. The government must find a way out. Students must get the assurance that the government stands with them. The government is ready to crush the paper leak mafia. Those who are protesting on the roads must accept the government’s offer for discussion. This is in everyone’s best interest.