- A group of IIM women alumni wrote to PM Modi on NEET paper leak protests
- They urged government to hear students out
- They demanded no force on protesters, meeting with students, Pradhan's resignation, and exam reforms
A group of women alumni from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) across the country has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to listen to the voices of the students protesting over the NEET paper leak and hold Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accountable.
The letter comes amid escalating tensions in Delhi where students have been protesting against the NEET paper leak and demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Protesters have been met with lathicharge and tear gas from police forces, while 118 security personnel were injured during the June 20 'Sansad Chalo' march in Delhi.
"We have come together because we have benefited from India's education system, and because the integrity of that system affects every family in the country," the IIM alumni said in the letter.
They said the students were exercising "a democratic right to protest as enshrined in our constitution", against a breach that was "serious enough to trigger a CBI investigation and Supreme Court hearings".
"The students are protesting not out of defiance, but out of despair and a deep anxiety about their future," the letter read.
The IIM alumni insisted that the students need to be heard for the sake of the country's progress, which cannot happen "without ensuring the youth have a voice".
The women, who did not disclose their names in the letter, made six demands to the government, including assurance that the protesters are not met with force and the "peaceful assembly is treated as the right it is, not a law-and-order problem".
They also urged the government to meet the students and listen to them, and hold Pradhan accountable "for this failure by calling for his resignation".
The letter suggested that the government must commit to "specific, time-bound reforms to NTA's examination security protocols, with an independent audit mechanism."
