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BJP veteran MM Joshi says ‘better late than never’ as Pradhan quits; had criticised use of force on CJP protesters
Joshi has not shied away from critiquing Modi regime on policy issues and handling of political controversies, including the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests
A member of the BJP's Margdarshak Mandal (guiding council), the party's former president Murli Manohar Joshi reacted with “better late than never” to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation amid massive youth protests over exam paper leaks and other issues.
“I appreciate and congratulate all the students for their peaceful conclusion to the movement. I hope that now peace will soon be established in the world of Indian education and that the young people will have ample opportunities for their bright future and progress,” said Joshi, who also led India's education policy as minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's BJP-led NDA government nearly three decades ago.
He also said he hoped the PM “will take an immediate and timely decision”, purportedly referring to a nod to the resignation.
Veteran who speaks up
MM Joshi, 92, and former deputy PM LK Advani, 98, are on the Margdarshak Mandal of the BJP as they were deemed too advanced in age for active ministerial work when Modi became PM in 2014.
The BJP website lists PM Modi himself, 75, and defence minister Rajnath Singh, 75, as other members of the council, as of July 25.
Joshi headed the education ministry between 1998 and 2004 and at the time, faced criticism for changing the curriculum and history textbooks for alleged “saffronisation”.
Joshi has not shied away from critiquing the Modi regime on policy issues and handling of political controversies, including the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests now. In an earlier post on X, Joshi expressed deep anguish at the use of force against the demonstrators during the ongoing protests and cautioned that this would alienate large sections from the national goal of Viksit Bharat (developed India).
“It is deeply painful to see that young students from different parts of the country have been gathered on the streets of New Delhi for several days. Their concerns and issues are genuine. These must be addressed with empathy and a vision for long-term solutions. I sincerely hope this will not be viewed merely as a law-and-order problem to be dealt with by force,” he said in a post on X.
On July 20, the Delhi Police used force to stop a march by thousands of demonstrators towards Parliament. Videos that surfaced on social media showed several protesters, many of them appearing unarmed, being beaten by police personnel in riot gear, with some sustaining head injuries. Police, however, maintained that the crowd had turned violent, necessitating the use of force.
But the protest grew from that moment and concluded on Saturday as the minister resigned.
