MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ daughter, Divija Fadnavis, on Thursday weighed in on the ongoing student protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, saying peaceful demonstrations are a democratic right but warning that violence by either protesters or the police should not be tolerated.In an Instagram post, the 19-year-old said she decided to share her views after being repeatedly asked to comment on the student agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in New Delhi.“Peaceful protests are the right of citizens in a democracy. Violence by protesters towards police and police violence towards protesters should not be permitted,” she said.
Divija Fadnavis instagram story
Divija urged citizens to support reforms in the education system without “blindly” backing political parties or their ideologies.She advised people to examine the “true intentions” of those leading any movement before extending their support.She also said that the Opposition in a democracy should keep the country’s interests in mind and help the government take better decisions, instead of acting as its “enemy” and trying to defame the ruling party.Appealing to social media users to think independently, Divija said people should not support any issue merely because it is trending online or allow themselves to be “brainwashed” into following any ideology.“As long as the interests of students come first, it is all good,” she said.She, however, cautioned that once protests move beyond issues such as the NEET examination, paper leaks and the National Testing Agency (NTA), and shift towards religion or unrelated matters, “the intention changes”.The CJP-led agitation, demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, reforms in the education system and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, began at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 20.The outfit also organised its ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20.(With PTI inputs)
