Varanasi: Activists of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and a group of students from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith staged separate protests across Varanasi on Monday over alleged paper leaks, police action to stop a Parliament march in Delhi, and in support of activist Sonam Wangchuk‘s demands.To protest against paper leak cases reported across the country and the alleged disorder in the examination system, scores of SP activists demonstrated outside the Banaras Hindu University gate in the Lanka area. They accused the BJP-led NDA govts at the Centre and in the states, as well as authorities conducting examinations, of playing with the future of the youth.The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to the President through district administration officials, demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a fair investigation into the paper leak cases, and strict action against those responsible.The speakers said the repeated incidents of paper leaks had shattered the trust of crores of youths. They alleged that the govt had failed not only to provide employment but also to maintain the credibility of examinations. Protest organiser Rajat Valmiki said that youngsters work hard for years, but the examination mafia and administrative negligence ruin their efforts. He demanded the implementation of a transparent and accountable examination system.Meanwhile, students of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith also took to the streets in support of Sonam Wangchuk, who was hospitalised following his fast-unto-death stir in Delhi. The students raised slogans on the campus and demanded the resignation of Pradhan. In view of the protest, police personnel were deployed at the university campus.Police also stopped AAP workers and members of social organisations, who were heading to take out a march from Shastri Ghat to the district headquarters, at the ghat itself.
