India's Minister of Education Resigned Following Large-Scale Student Protests
India’s Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, resigned on July 25 following several weeks of widespread student protests across the country, according to The Guardian.
Pradhan stated that he decided to step down so that “anti-state forces would not exploit this situation for their own interests.”
“I deeply respect the aspirations, sentiments, and legitimate expectations of the youth of this country. Fulfilling the dreams of India’s younger generation is a moral principle of our political and social life,” he said.
According to The Guardian, this is the first time in the 12 years of rule by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that a member of the government has resigned due to public pressure.
The student protests lasted several weeks and were among the largest in the country in recent years. Protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s education policies and demanded changes.
Source: The Guardian
Earlier, thousands of students took to the streets in India to protest.
In Delhi, thousands of supporters of the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party marched to Parliament demanding the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The demonstration took place despite a police ban and was a continuation of protests over alleged leaks of exam materials.
As a reminder, India blocked the Telegram messaging app to combat cheating during exams.
On June 17, Telegram filed a lawsuit challenging the Indian government’s decision to temporarily block the platform.
