Shiv Sena (UBT) slams Centre over NEET scam, urges ‘Sack Pradhan, save Sonam Wangchuk’

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over its “callous silence” on the deteriorating health of innovator and activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for 15 days.

In a strongly worded editorial in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray faction demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG examination scam and called for nationwide youth mobilisation at Jantar Mantar. Wangchuk, often described as the “son of the Himalayas”, has extended support to the ongoing student agitation.

The editorial described Wangchuk’s condition as critical, alleging that government inaction had put “a national treasure” at risk. It claimed his body had grown emaciated, his breathing laboured and his voice faint, while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding an “inactive, incompetent” Education Minister.

According to the piece, Wangchuk’s protest is “noble” and focused solely on safeguarding students’ interests, not personal gain or political ambition. It criticised the Prime Minister for not initiating dialogue with the activist, alleging that Modi was busy on foreign tours and collecting honours even as Wangchuk continued his fast.

The editorial linked Wangchuk’s agitation to the NEET crisis, citing repeated paper leaks, cancellations and alleged irregularities that have left medical aspirants in limbo. It claimed competitive exams had turned into a “horse-trading market” where papers are auctioned for large sums, and alleged close connections between accused racketeers and the “BJP family”.

It also questioned the government’s reported proposal to involve the armed forces in securing future exam papers, calling it “bizarre and extreme” and arguing that the focus should instead be on fixing institutional shortcomings. Pradhan was accused of appointing corrupt vice-chancellors to key universities and “effectively destroying” the higher education framework, and was unfavourably compared to past education ministers such as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Arjun Singh.

Drawing a historical parallel, the editorial recalled the 2011 Jan Lokpal agitation when Anna Hazare staged an 11-day fast at Ramlila Maidan under the UPA government. It noted that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s administration sent ministers and interlocutors to engage with Hazare, and accused the present dispensation of dismissing Wangchuk’s student-led protest as a “political conspiracy” despite having previously backed Hazare’s movement as “public outrage”.

The piece reminded the government that youth support was crucial to Narendra Modi’s rise to power, pointing to his outreach to students through college visits and “Pariksha Pe Charcha” interactions. It alleged that the integrity of examinations has since been “decimated”, even as the Prime Minister avoids substantive discussion on the issue.

Concluding with an appeal for a larger mobilisation, the editorial urged opposition parties and young people to join Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar and turn his lone fast into a mass movement. It called on citizens to “break their silence”, raise slogans of “Jai Hind”, and hold the government accountable, stating that Wangchuk’s fight should become a collective national struggle.

(Inputs from IANS)