Jharkhand exam protests escalate as police baton-charge students
Thousands march on Assembly demanding CBI probe as former JPSC chief is arrested
Dubai: Police baton-charged students and used water cannons and tear gas in Ranchi on Monday after thousands of protesters broke through barricades and marched towards the Jharkhand Assembly, dramatically escalating a 16-day agitation over alleged irregularities in government recruitment examinations.
The confrontation came despite Chief Minister Hemant Soren saying just a day earlier that “every problem can be resolved through dialogue” and assurances from a state minister that students would be allowed to protest peacefully without the use of batons, tear gas or pellet guns.
The protests also took a significant turn with the arrest of former Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) chairperson L. Khiangte by the state Criminal Investigation Department in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.
Khiangte, who resigned as JPSC chief on July 22, was taken into custody as students intensified demands for a federal investigation into alleged paper leaks and other irregularities involving examinations conducted by the JPSC and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).
Three JPSC members had resigned a day earlier after being summoned by the CID.
WHY ARE STUDENTS PROTESTING?
What triggered the agitation? Students allege paper leaks and other irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).
What do they want? Protesters want several disputed recruitment examinations cancelled, reforms to the examination system and greater transparency in the recruitment process.
Why are they demanding a CBI probe? Students say alleged irregularities are serious enough to require an investigation by the federal agency rather than relying solely on state authorities.
What has the government offered? The Jharkhand government says it has accepted around 98 per cent of the protesters’ demands and is willing to allow a judicially monitored investigation.
Why hasn’t that ended the protests? Students say only three of the 13 examinations they want scrapped have been accepted for cancellation and insist that their central demand for a CBI investigation remains unresolved.
How long have protests continued? The agitation began on July 29 and has continued for 16 days, with six protesters on hunger strike.
Why does this matter beyond Jharkhand? Millions of young Indians compete for a limited number of government jobs, making recruitment examinations a crucial route to employment. Allegations of leaks or unfairness can therefore quickly become a wider political issue.
Thousands converge on Ranchi
Students arrived in Ranchi from districts across Jharkhand by trains, buses and private vehicles before marching towards the Assembly, where the Monsoon Session is underway.
Hundreds of police personnel had been deployed and barricades erected at major intersections and sensitive areas. Schools in the city remained largely closed.
Police had also checked buses and private vehicles on highways and district borders in an apparent effort to restrict the number of protesters reaching the capital.
But large crowds eventually pushed through multiple barricades and advanced towards the Assembly, prompting police to use water cannons and later resort to a baton charge and tear gas.
In one striking scene, students danced in front of powerful jets from police water cannons, echoing images seen during earlier examination protests in Bihar.
Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who has been on hunger strike for more than a week, joined Monday’s march on a stretcher.
Six protesters remain on hunger strike.
“The government should listen to us and respond,” one student told NDTV.
Talks fail to break deadlock
Monday’s confrontation followed six rounds of negotiations between protesting groups and a government-appointed panel.
The latest round on Sunday failed to produce an agreement.
The government says it has accepted around 98 per cent of the protesters’ demands and has offered a judicially monitored investigation into the allegations.
Students dispute that claim.
They say the government has agreed to scrap only three of the 13 examinations they want cancelled and continue to demand an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch leader Ravindra Paswan said protesters would not abandon that demand.
The government, however, says cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination cannot be decided by the executive alone because of ongoing judicial proceedings.
Wider anger over India’s exam system
The Jharkhand agitation comes amid growing anger among young Indians over the integrity of competitive examinations, on which millions depend for access to coveted government jobs.
Protests in Ranchi began on July 29, shortly after a separate youth-led agitation in New Delhi over alleged failures in India’s examination system.
Those protests lasted 36 days and culminated in the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, according to AFP.
The political dynamics in Jharkhand, however, are different.
While the Delhi protests targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led government, Jharkhand is governed by Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led coalition, which is opposed to the BJP.
BJP leaders also demonstrated outside Soren’s residence on Monday as the student protests intensified.
For Soren, the immediate challenge is now not only containing the unrest but reconciling his government’s repeated promise of dialogue with the images emerging from Ranchi’s streets.
-- With IANS and AFP inputs
