India, July 28 -- The government was rattled and was forced to bow down and accept the demands of the protesting students, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday, noting that the students' stir on the NEET paper leak issue was the first such agitation supported by parents. Participating in a debate on the Bill for introducing stricter measures in the anti-paper leak law in Lok Sabha, Yadav slammed the police crackdown on students where allegedly "lathis with spikes and electric batons" were used and said such "injustice was akin to the Emergency period". "Jab sarkar dar jati hai, ghabra jati hai, to sweekar kar leti hai...Sarkar jhuki aur sweekar kiya (When the government gets rattled, it accepts... the government bowed down and accepted the demands)," he said, referring to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister. Yadav hoped that the government will keep its word on the promises made to the protesters. He said that parents had sent their children to agitate for their rights. "This was the first such agitation which was supported by parents." "The government has snatched rights of Dalits and backward classes in recruitments," he said and alleged malpractices in exams in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav also attacked the government for "outsourcing" a crucial body like the National Testing Agency.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.