After New Delhi and Jharkhand, now Punjab is witnessing protests over alleged exam paper leaks. However, this time it's not students; the agitation was staged by Punjab Youth Congress and ABVP activists, who are demanding the resignation of state education minister Harjot Singh Bains.
Both sides, during separate protests, planned to march towards the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, where the monsoon session is currently underway. However, police resorted to water cannons to stop them from marching ahead.
Additionally, the state's opposition parties also raised the alleged paper leak issue. Punjab's leader of the opposition (LoP), Partap Singh Bajwa, on Tuesday alleged that six incidents of examination paper leaks have occurred under the Aam Aadmi Party government.
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Though the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government has been under fire over alleged multiple exam paper leaks, the recent escalation came after a recent cheating racket was detected in the pharmacy officer recruitment examination.
However, all the allegations have been dismissed by chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He has said that not even a single paper leak incident has taken place in Punjab during the more than four years of his government.
Water cannons on NSUI workers
{{/usCountry}}However, all the allegations have been dismissed by chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He has said that not even a single paper leak incident has taken place in Punjab during the more than four years of his government.
Water cannons on NSUI workers
{{/usCountry}}The Punjab unit of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the official student wing of the Indian National Congress, gathered outside the State Congress office in Sector 15, Chandigarh, and planned to march towards the Vidhan Sabha to 'gherao' (surround) it.
However, Chandigarh Police placed barricades outside the Congress office and prevented protesters from proceeding.
As the protesters, led by Indian Youth Congress chief Udai Bhanu Chib, tried to breach the barricades, police used water cannons to disperse them.
Authorities even briefly detained the protesters, news agency PTI reported.
Speaking to reporters, Chib said that the youth have to face water cannons and lathi-charge whenever they raise their voices.
"During the recent student protest in Delhi, the police under Union Home Minister Amit Shah tried to suppress the voice of the students and over here, the Bhagwant Mann government is trying to suppress the voice of Punjab's youth," he alleged.
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He added that today, when the youth of Punjab were demanding freedom from paper leaks, fighting for a fair examination system, the Aam Aadmi Party "ordered a lathi-charge against them."
"The Aam Aadmi Party also used water cannons, pushed the protesters, and assaulted them with lathis," he alleged.
Chib further stated that just like Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign as the union education minister, the Punjab education minister will also have to resign.
ABVP's protest march
Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), gathered near the rally ground in Sector 25 to march to the Vidhan Sabha.
However, here as well, the police put up barricades near the ground in a bid to stop the ABVP protesters.
Police resorted to water cannons when the protesters attempted to cross the barricades.
A protesting ABVP member said they were holding a peaceful protest against the paper leaks and seeking the Punjab education minister's resignation.
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"The Bhagwant Mann government is sitting like a mute spectator. The Chief Minister should ask his Education Minister to resign...Over here, students are holding a peaceful protest, and we wanted to march from the rally ground to the Vidhan Sabha. Can students not even hold a peaceful protest?" she asked.
Paper leak row in Punjab
Earlier in July, police teams from Faridkot and Ferozepur, along with Punjab's counter-intelligence (CI) wing, detained 35 persons, including 28 candidates, for allegedly cheating during the recruitment examination for the pharmacy officers.
The CI wing received specific inputs during the exam about an organised cheating syndicate operating simultaneously across multiple centres.
Gurmeet Singh, an employee at the Sant Kabir Polytechnic College in Fazilka, was identified as the mastermind and facilitator, according to the police.
A week later, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann defended his government, saying that not a single paper leak has taken place in the past five years.
Additionally, the Mann government also said that the alleged conspiracy was caught during the exam itself, preventing any disruptions to the recruitment process.
It said that swift police action was also ensured in the matter.