Widespread protests are being conducted in Bihar by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) aspirants since the BPSC prelims exam has been held on December 13th, 2024. The students are demanding the cancellation of the 70th Integrated Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination (CCE), 2024, due to their collective firm belief that there should be a re-examination. The students have claimed that there were irregularities in fairness by the administration since there was an alleged paper leak.
Gross violation of human rights upon the youth by NDA
Patna Police had to employ force upon the protesting crowd with water cannons and lathicharge to discourage and disperse the students that had been protesting for several days at Gandhi Maidan. SP City Sweety Sahrawat made claims to the media that earlier students had been asked by the police to peacefully vacate the protest site since their representative leader had been absent; it was only when the students made the attempt to break through the police barricade and pushed the police that they resorted to using force upon the protesters. The students had gathered at the Gandhi Maidan and marched towards JP Golambar, with the intention to proceed to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence to discuss the issue with the CM himself. Thereafter, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) called for a ‘chakka jam’ to protest against the actions of the police towards the BPSC aspirant protesters.
Political leaders cry foul play
Prashant Kishor, founder of Jan Suraj, appeared in full support of the student protestors at the site. He was also seen marching to JP Golambar, where the students rejected his proposal for meeting the Chief Secretary through a five-member student delegation regarding the concerns and demands of the students.The protesters refused to leave the site; eventually the protests escalated, and the protesters became increasingly difficult to handle for the police. It had also been reported that the Bihar administration refused to give permission to leader Prashant Kishore for holding a “Chhatra Sansad” at Gandhi Maidan recently.
Tejaswi Yadav, the RJD leader, expressed his discontent and anguish over the treatment of the protesters by the Bihar government. The former Deputy CM of Bihar made a statement through a video, where he said that he was saddened by the intensity of pain caused to the students by the police. While condemning the severity of the police action in the visuals, he expressed his empathy with the students.
BPSC Examination Controller Rajesh Kumar Singh recently recapitulated the stand of the commission on the matter and said that the 70th CCE exam would not be cancelled under any circumstances and that the main examination would proceed as scheduled in April. He further advised candidates to focus on their preparations towards the upcoming exam instead of holding protests.
