‘The resistance must continue’: Shabana Azmi says students have won first battle after Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation

Shabana Azmi expressed her pride in the youth who were staging protests for several weeks now, and whose perseverance brought about a significant success.

Following weeks of student protests against the irregularities in competitive exams, Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan tendered his resignation on Saturday, stating that he does not want the controversy related to NEET-UG exam to impact the future of students. His resignation has raised many emotions across the country, including veteran actor Shabana Azmi, who did take part in Jantar Mantar demonstrations and had met CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke in New Delhi, said that it is a very important moment for the student movement.

Shabana Azmi calls Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation only the beginning.

Shabana Azmi calls Pradhan's resignation only the beginning

In an interview to PTI, Shabana expressed her pride in the youth who were staging protests for several weeks now, and whose perseverance brought about a significant success. "So proud of our youth. I am truly humbled. Thank you for showing us that our Constitution is our greatest strength,” she said.

Shabana has been one of the strongest voices from the film industry who has come out in support of the ongoing protests. Earlier this week, she participated in the student-led protest, the Chalo Sansad march, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where she condemned the police's actions against protesters. The students were lathi-charged, and tear gas shells were thrown at them.

Though she was scheduled to participate in the protest in Mumbai, the actor had to stay behind because of swine flu. Nevertheless, Shabana believes that the protest campaign should not stop at the resignation of the minister. "It is the first step towards the students' victory. But the resistance must continue till the educational system is overhauled and all demands are met," she added.

Dharmendra Pradhan resigns

Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following weeks of protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that were demanding accountability and wanted him to resign for any irregularities in the examination. In his letter of resignation, Dharmendra wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he had regarded reforms in education as his lifetime objective and taking care of youth had been his moral obligation in his public life.

Pradhan went on to say that after the irregularities were revealed in the NEET-UG examination of 3rd May 2026, the government had ordered a CBI inquiry into it, cancelled the examination, announced a re-examination, and decided to conduct the examination in CBT mode from the next year. Moreover, the immediate concern of the government is to help the 20 lakh plus students appear in the new examination without any problems.

Pradhan said that he had assumed responsibility right from the start, and he was determined that the deserving students should not face any difficulties because of the examination mafia. Besides this, he said that the results announced on 16th July were the result of the hard work of the meritorious students.

At the same time, however, Pradhan voiced his disappointment in people’s efforts to mislead the students during the protest. In explaining his resignation, the politician stated that recent developments had saddened him deeply and that he did not want the situation to cause any further confusion among students or be misused.