BJP leader criticises use of force against protesting students

New Delhi: BJP leader and former Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has criticised the use of force against protesting students, saying their legitimate grievances should be addressed with sympathy and understanding rather than coercion, Economic Times reported.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 21st FICCI Higher Education Summit, Joshi said students should be treated with patience and consideration, comparing the relationship between authorities and students to that between parents and their children. He maintained that resorting to batons could not resolve their concerns and urged authorities to listen to their grievances and engage with them.

Joshi stressed that genuine student demands should be examined sympathetically rather than reduced to a law-and-order issue requiring force.

The Padma Vibhushan awardee also commented on the National Education Policy, saying it was too early to assess its impact. He pointed out that the policy had not been in force for long and that its implementation was still underway.

His latest remarks came amid ongoing student protests and echoed concerns he had expressed two months earlier, following the controversy over the alleged leak of the NEET question paper. Joshi had then highlighted the distress of students who had gathered in New Delhi and said their concerns about the examination system required an empathetic response and a lasting solution.

He had also opposed treating the protests merely as a law-and-order challenge and expressed concern over the handling of young women protesters.

Joshi had warned that excessive use of force could alienate sections of society from the national objective of building a developed India.