CHENNAI: Even as Left-linked student groups called off their week-long anti-NEET protest in Chennai following the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Anitha's brother Manirathinam on Sunday (July 26) said the agitation against the medical entrance examination would continue until the medical exam is scrapped.
Addressing reporters at the Chennai Press Club, Manirathinam urged the State government to allot a designated public space in Chennai for a sustained anti-NEET protest. He said scrapping NEET remained the only permanent solution to protect the future of students aspiring to pursue medical education and asserted that the movement would continue through democratic means until the examination was withdrawn.
His remarks came a day after members of the Cockroach Janata Party and Left-linked student and youth groups announced the withdrawal of their protest at Balan Illam, the CPI state headquarters in T Nagar, where they had been staging a sit-in since the midnight of July 20. Meanwhile, members of the CPI-affiliated All India Students' Federation (AISF) and All India Youth Federation (AIYF) staged a protest near Panagal Maligai in Guindy on Sunday, demanding the abolition of NEET and attempting to lay siege to Raj Bhavan.
After the Cockroach Janata Party called off the protest following the Pradhan's resignation and assurance to look into some of their demands, a large section of the protesters in Chennai went into chaos as they expected the movement to continue to scrap NEET.
A section of students and youth opposed ending the agitation, arguing that the movement had been launched primarily to press for the abolition of NEET, even though CJP didn't have such a demand at the national level. Based on Tamil Nadu's longstanding demands for abolishing NEET, they sought to carry on the protest. They accused the organisers of abandoning the core demand midway.
Reiterating the students' stance, Manirathinam said the State government should provide a permanent venue in Chennai where the anti-NEET agitation could continue peacefully until the Union government abolishes the examination. He said the campaign was intended to safeguard the aspirations of future medical students and would continue until its objective was achieved.