Anti-NEET protests intensified across Tamil Nadu on Friday, with students, teachers and parties joining demonstrations. The unrest widened calls to scrap the exam and mounted pressure on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Protests against the NEET intensified across Tamil Nadu on Friday, with demonstrations and detentions reported in Chennai, Madurai and Mayiladuthurai. Thousands of students, teachers, youth organisations and political leaders joined the agitation, demanding that the medical entrance examination be scrapped and that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign over paper leaks.
In Chennai, a round-the-clock sit-in at the CPI state headquarters entered its sixth day and drew large crowds. Protesters said the campaign had grown from 20 people at the start to nearly 5,000 students over the past two days, as calls against NEET gathered momentum across the state.
The protesters at the CPI office said 21 students in Tamil Nadu had lost their lives because of pressures linked to NEET. “Even though we have been protesting in a completely peaceful and non-violent manner for six days, without resorting to road blockades or clashes, it is highly disappointing that the state government has not yet met the students or listened to our demands,” said Celina, an activist at the protest site.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan said his party would hold demonstrations in all 234 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu on July 27 to demand Pradhan’s resignation and the complete scrapping of NEET. He said the VCK had opposed NEET since its introduction and had argued for its abolition not only in Tamil Nadu but across the country.
“Our position is clear: NEET should be abolished not just in Tamil Nadu, but across the entire country. On July 27, we will hold demonstrations across all 234 assembly constituencies in the state demanding the complete cancellation of the exam and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan,” Thirumavalavan said.
Speaking to reporters, Thirumavalavan said Parliament’s monsoon session had been completely paralysed for five days over the alleged NEET irregularities. He said that during talks with protesters in Delhi on Friday, the Centre agreed to withdraw police cases filed against students after the violence of July 20.
He added that the government had asked for two days on the demand for the Education Minister’s resignation. He also said the Tamil Nadu government had assured support for the protests as long as they remained non-violent and democratic.
The May 17 Movement also staged a protest in Chennai, where its leader Thirumurugan Gandhi demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi criticised the Prime Minister for addressing the public through a recorded video message instead of facing the media directly.
He also accused the Tamil Nadu government of shutting Marina Beach to protesters while allowing public screenings of cricket matches and the Chief Minister’s film, calling the move a “mockery of democracy”.
Gandhi said a state Assembly resolution seeking exemption from NEET had earlier been put in cold storage by the Governor and the President. He said the student-led protests were growing rapidly and compared them with the CAA and farmers’ protests. “Tamil Nadu has always sought an exemption from NEET and its complete abolition. The entire country must now come together to abolish this exam,” he said.
