Protests against NEET gathers steam in Chennai, students and activists detained

Against the backdrop of ongoing protests in Delhi demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, opposition to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has gained momentum in Chennai, with student groups and activists holding sit-in and flash protests seeking scrapping of the examination.

Several students and youth activists were detained by the city police on Wednesday when they attempted to stage protests at multiple locations against irregularities in the NEET examination, police action on protesting youth in Delhi and demanding the resignation of Mr. Pradhan.

Support has been pouring in for the ongoing protest at “Balan Illam”, CPI’s State office. Akmal Kabir, State organising secretary, Cockroach Janata Party-Tamil Nadu, said the sit-in protest at the venue entered the third day on Wednesday. “We, along with SFI, launched a protest near Panagal Park on Monday and the police allowed us for 40 minutes before picking us up in their vans. We then started the sit-in protest at Balan Illam,” he said.

He said the response for the protest was unexpected and good, and other youth organisations and youth from States such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were also participating. “We are demanding scrapping of NEET. The Union Minister should take responsibility for the deaths of so many students and step down,” he added.

With students staying at the venue throughout the day, participants, including rappers, drama artists and story tellers, took to the stage to express their opposition to NEET through a range of art forms.

Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India and the Students’ Federation of India, who staged a flash protest in Egmore on Wednesday demanding NEET ban, were arrested by the city police. The 85 arrested agitators, including 25 women, were removed from the protest site. The protesters raised slogans against the police, accusing them of forcibly bundling them into police vehicles.

In another protest, members of the Youth Congress and students assembled near Rajarathinam Stadium seeking permission for a demonstration. However, police, citing the absence of prior permission, asked them to disperse. When they refused, they were shifted to buses. A scuffle broke out as some protesters staged a sit-in protest on the road. Women police personnel also detained female protesters.

Separate demonstrations were reported at Presidency College and Pachaiyappa’s College. In Tiruvottiyur, students of the Government Arts and Science College also protested. After police detained some of them, more than 50 students gathered outside the Tiruvottiyur police station demanding their release.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Students Youth Federation, which comprises 20 student organisations, has announced rallies outside colleges across the State on Thursday and a gathering outside the Rajarathinam Stadium on Sunday.

Ilayaraja, its chief coordinator and Prabhakaran V, State coordinator, said that they condemned the police action against students protesting against irregularities in NEET in Delhi. “Tamil Nadu remains firm in its demand for abolition of NEET. Our organisation spearheaded the protests against NEET in 2015-2016. The present State government should clearly spell out its stand and take necessary legal steps to secure an exemption from NEET. TN was the only State to oppose NEET when no other State had done so. We have invested in our public health infrastructure. NEET not only affects medical education but also undermines the State’s healthcare system, rights and regional aspirations,” Mr. Prabhakaran said.