CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on August 18 visited the Gardanibagh protest site in Patna and met students and candidates protesting over various demands. He extended the party’s support to their ongoing movement.
Comrade Dipankar met protesters associated with the BPSC, BSSC, police recruitment, TRE-4 and Nal-Jal maintenance workers’ movements and heard their grievances. The protesters also submitted memoranda outlining their demands to the CPI(ML) general secretary.
Addressing the protesters, CPI(ML) GS said the students were fighting for legitimate demands and that many had been sitting on hunger strike for several days. Instead of listening to their concerns, he said, the government was adopting an insensitive approach.
He said repeated irregularities in the examination system, delays in recruitment processes and the problems faced by candidates needed to be addressed, but the government was instead trying to discredit students taking part in the protests. He said the BJP was refusing to listen to the voices of protesting students and was using objectionable terms such as “dimagi naxal” and “gutter” to describe them. Such language, he said, reflected the government’s attitude towards democratic movements and the youth.
Comrade Dipankar said Bihar’s examination and education systems required comprehensive reforms. He said the CPI(ML) stood firmly with movements demanding transparent and time-bound examinations, a fair recruitment process and protection of candidates’ rights.
He said the struggle for reforms in examinations and education would be expanded further. The government, he added, must engage in dialogue with protesting students and candidates and immediately resolve their legitimate demands. Suppressing the voices of young people instead of addressing their problems was not the responsibility of a government, he said.
The CPI(ML) announced that it would continue to support democratic movements across Bihar concerning examinations, education and employment and would intensify the broader struggle on these issues.
