Human Rights Group Condemns Police Force Against Tamil Nadu NEET Protesters
The Human Rights Defenders’ Alert – India (HRDA) has condemned the use of force by Tamil Nadu police against students and youth who were peacefully protesting for accountability over the NEET paper leak.
In a statement, HRDA national working secretary Henri Tiphagne said the protests in Tamil Nadu must be understood in the national context. Students across the country have been demanding that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan take responsibility for the paper leak and other examination irregularities that have affected millions of young aspirants.
Mr. Tiphagne noted that similar demonstrations in New Delhi, involving protesters from various political and student groups, were also met with force. He highlighted that the students organising and speaking up for accountability were, in every meaningful sense, human rights defenders, entitled to protection under the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
“Treating students as law and order problems rather than as rights-holders misreads the moment,” Mr. Tiphagne said, adding that the right to peaceful protest is guaranteed to every citizen and does not diminish because the protester is young or a student.
He urged the Tamil Nadu government to instruct the police to cease all use of force, intimidation, and detention against the student protesters, and to treat them as citizens exercising a constitutionally protected freedom. He also called for the legitimate demand for accountability over the NEET paper leak to be heard rather than suppressed.
