All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union extends solidarity to NEET protesters, urges centre to choose dialogue over force

The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on Thursday extended its solidarity to students protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and condemned the reported police lathi-charge on demonstrators during the Chalo Sansad march on July 20.

In a statement, AAPSU said the continuing hunger strike by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, currently under treatment at Medanta Hospital, and the sustained protests reflect the anguish of lakhs of students and families whose futures have been affected by what the union described as a compromised examination process.

AAPSU President Meje Taku said students demanding a fair examination system should not be treated as enemies of the state. “When the government answers that demand with lathis and tear gas, it is not the students who are failing this country; it is the system that was supposed to protect them,” he said.

The union said Wangchuk’s demands — accountability for the alleged NEET paper leak, assurance that the matter will be raised in Parliament, and a guarantee that no student or protester will face vindictive legal action — deserve a direct response from the Central government.

AAPSU has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging immediate dialogue with the protesting students and Sonam Wangchuk. The union warned that continued inaction could lead to wider agitations across the country and stated that it may call for state-wide protests in Arunachal Pradesh if the government fails to respond in a timely manner.

“The students of this country deserve answers, not batons,” the union said, appealing to the Centre to act with urgency and sincerity.