Students respond to Hindustani Bhau’s call, protest offline exams for classes 10, 12

They said that as they studied online the entire year, it is only fair to conduct the exams online too, as most students are not prepared for the offline mode.

Mumbai Groups of students gathered in Mumbai and three other cities to mark their protest against offline board examinations for classes 10 and 12.

Responding to a call by Vikas Fhatak, alias ‘Hindustani Bhau’, a former contestant on the reality TV show Big Boss, the students gathered to protest (Hindustan Times)

They said that as they studied online the entire year, it is only fair to conduct the exams online too, as most students are not prepared for the offline mode.

Responding to a call by Vikas Fhatak, alias ‘Hindustani Bhau’, a former contestant on the reality TV show Big Boss, the students gathered to protest. Fhatak is known for his use of abusive language on social media.

The protest turned violent in Nagpur, where window panes of buses were damaged. Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil asked the police to probe who was behind the organised protests that took the government as well as police machinery by surprise. He asked them to probe whether there was an organised attempt to incite students.

In Mumbai, students gathered at Dharavi, the assembly constituency of state education minister Varsha Gaikwad in the afternoon, where Fhatak addressed the crowd. He also released a video on social media platforms, where he demanded the cancellation of board exams and school fee waiver.

Meanwhile, students gathered at Aurangabad and Osmanabad with similar demands on Monday afternoon. Students said that they had gathered because ‘Hindustani Bhau’ asked them to do so. In Nagpur, the protest turned violent as a group of students pelted stones and damaged a school bus.

Meanwhile, state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad said that they want to know if students were incited by someone and will request the home minister to investigate. She also asked students not to violate Covid rules and risk their health. She further said she has invited the students for talks.

Bachhu Kadu, minister of state for school education, said that some students taking to the streets don’t mean all of them feel the same. They will have to look into the demands as there are students who are well prepared for exams and want them to be held offline.

“It was an impromptu protest by students. We would have called them for discussion if we were told about it in advance. We need to consider all the aspects before taking the decision as we are working in the interest of students. Today some are demanding online examinations and others want them to be cancelled. Tomorrow they will oppose physical classes. This is not the way to function. We have also received demands where students want time for studies and some oppose the average mark system. Everything will be considered before taking a decision,” Kadu said.

Gaikwad said that it is improper to protest in such huge numbers during Covid. “They are immature. There should be no politics over students’ future…I will speak to the home minister and will request him to find out who is behind all this,” the school education minister said, adding that they have been discussing the issue of holding examinations with all the concerned people including experts, schools management and parents. “I am ready to discuss the issue even more and ready to consider their suggestions,” she added.

However, Bhai Jagtap, Mumbai Congress chief, smelled a conspiracy. “The students protested outside Varsha Gaikwad’s office reportedly because a social media influencer Hindustani Bhau uploaded an Instagram post... the police have detained him. This post sparked off trouble in the state and hence, this is a serious matter. The police will trace the roots of this issue, but prima facie, this seems to be a conspiracy,” said Jagtap.

Earlier, Fhathak had been the face of controversy over his abusive language. In August last year, he shared a video asking his supporters to beat up people who disrespect Hindu gods. After this, his account on Instagram was suspended.

On an earlier occasion, he was arrested by the Shivaji Park police in Mumbai for violating Covid restrictions. He posted on his Twitter account that he would stage a protest all by himself at Shivaji Park demanding the cancellation of all the exams and was arrested after reaching the spot in an ambulance, which he used to hoodwink the police.