In Patna, the police lathi-charged a large group of protesting students late on Wednesday evening when they tried to lay siege to the offices of the Bihar Public Service Commission.
ANI shared the visuals of the ruckus, showing hundreds of students sloganeering and holding placards swarming into the streets and traffic signals, pushing through police contingents. It looked like the police had retreated into a corner when protesters outflanked them, before returning in bigger numbers to take control of the situation, that started this morning and went on for hours together.
The surging crowd of students near the BPSC office was in its attempt to push back met with a clash. Jarring visuals of police chasing and beating up students flooded the media as several students were injured in the process.
A BPSC aspirant in a grey sweater said, “We just wanted to put our demands before the government body in a peaceful manner, but the police started the lathi-charge.” He mentioned that protests had been going on for eight days.
The protest focuses on the Integrated 70th Combined Competitive Examination (Prelims) that was held on Friday but was suddenly scrapped following charges of mismanagement and irregularities. The Chairperson of BPSC, Parmar Ravi Manubhai, on Monday informed that the examination scheduled to be held at Bapu Pariksha Parisar has been postponed to January 4.
Officials said it needed urgent disposal so that there would be minimal inconveniences for the candidates as a majority of the candidates suffered with issues such as re-preparation and traveling to examination centers. Despite the announcement, the examination had passed off peacefully on December 13 at more than 900 centers across the state, with only Patna’s Bapu Pariksha Bhavan reporting trouble.
According to CCTV footage, an unruly crowd had torn question papers and shoved around some exam officials who were trying to pacify them over complaints that the distribution of question papers was behind schedule. Even after the invigilators announced compensation for lost time, it was too much for all controls to break loose altogether.
In a police complaint filed by the exam conducting authorities, clashes broke out when candidates learnt that some sealed question paper boxes had been opened. The rumors of an scrapped exam further led to chaos and the gathering at the venue. Finally, 5,674 candidates finished the examination amidst controlled conditions.
Protests from Opposition leaders in angry tone in the Lok Sabha; Pappu Yadav attacks ruling JDU-BJP over students’ treatment: “Why is it that these students have been treated as terrorists? Such stick-on attacks, which raise voices for the right to fair justice; it’s too much to bear. And we, too, will stage a dharna tonight with the resolution that such a govt goes into total bust!
