Hyderabad: Marching in solidarity with the nationwide agitation over the NEET paper leaks, hundreds of students, citizens and activists held protests at various places in the city on Tuesday.At the Khairtabad Junction in the morning, police took 26 members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and other organisations, who had called for ‘Chalo Lok Bhavan’ march, into preventive custody. The videos of protestors, who were demanding the resignation of Union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan, being dragged away by the police gained considerable traction on the social media throughout the day.A Khairatabad police officer told TOI that the protesters were taken into preventive custody for allegedly obstructing traffic and were later released.At the Press Club, more than 150 people, including students, activists and citizens, gathered to express solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk and support the ongoing students’ movement.Participants condemned the manhandling of protestors in Delhi, coupling it with sloganeering against the Union govt.Addressing the gathering, Mohd Junaid, a private employee, said: “I had gone to Delhi three days ago to join the protest. The videos circulating online do not do justice to the struggles there. Several protestors were manhandled and badly injured.”From the Press Club, crowds dispersed to various places for the protest. At the People’s Plaza, around 250 protestors braved steady rain and held a sit-in from around 5.30pm to 7pm, condemning the police crackdown on protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The protests, though held without police permission, passed off peacefully.Participants from Disha Students’ Organisation and Naujawan Bharat Sabha alleged that examination scams, privatisation and the commercialisation of education has eroded public trust in the system. Calling for the resignation of the education minister, and release of Wangchuk, the organisations demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA). They also called for action against police personnel involved in the violent crackdown on students in Delhi, free and equitable education, and strict action against corruption in examinations.An Artists’ Collective also organised a protest at 4pm at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Gachibowli, joining demonstrations held across the city. A rally was also carried out by a Civil Society Organisations group from the Secretariat to the Ambedkar statue, that ended around 8.30pm.
