NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday wrote to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, urging him to personally meet students protesting alleged irregularities in the state’s recruitment examinations.The letter, dated August 14 but made public on Monday, expressed solidarity with the protesters, with Rahul describing their agitation as peaceful and their demands as legitimate.“The Congress party believes that the right to peaceful protest as enshrined in the Constitution of India is one of the central pillars of our democracy. We have, therefore, offered our full support to students protesting paper leaks and irregularities in the education system over the last few months. It is also our belief that the Indian education system has been captured by the RSS and BJP and transformed into a tool for the exploitation and oppression of students. It is no longer the robust knowledge system that it used to be a decade ago,” said Rahul in the letter.“As you are aware, students in Jharkhand have also been protesting irregularities in the State recruitment examinations. Their protest has been peaceful, and their demands are legitimate. I appreciate that the Jharkhand government has begun a dialogue with them through a committee instituted by you. I believe that there is also agreement on several demands raised by the students. However, the protests continue, and some students remain on an indefinite hunger strike,” he added.
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Further expanding on his support for students, the Congress leader said, “The youth of India is its future. We owe them our solidarity and support at this moment of crisis. Please do your utmost to hear them out and take appropriate action towards the resolution of this issue.”Congress is part of the JMM-led ruling coalition in Jharkhand, with Hemant Soren heading the alliance government in the state.The agitation began over allegations of irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC). The protesting students have been seeking a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities and cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination, which they claim was affected by discrepancies. The protest has continued at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, with multiple rounds of talks between the students and the state government failing to resolve the deadlock.
