Memorandum flags paper leaks, recruitment delays; Congress vows to continue youth-led movement
The Haryana Congress on Wednesday intensified its campaign in support of students protesting against alleged irregularities in the examination system, submitting a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu through the Deputy Commissioner of Kurukshetra.
The move followed a meeting of the District Congress Committee, Kurukshetra, attended by office-bearers and workers from all four Assembly constituencies of the district, held under the guidance of Haryana Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt and Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee President Rao Narendra Singh. The meeting covered organisational matters as well as strategy for strengthening the party's ongoing movement on students' rights and examination reforms.
In the memorandum, the Congress delegation sought the President's intervention over a lathi-charge on students who were peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi over demands related to a transparent examination system and fair recruitment. The party also flagged what it called repressive action against the protesters and persistent irregularities in the examination process.
Speaking after the meeting, Sanjay Dutt said students and young people across the country are democratically demanding a transparent examination system, fair recruitment, and dignified opportunities. "Instead of listening to their concerns, the Central Government has chosen the path of repression and use of force," he said, describing the crackdown as "not merely an attack on students but a direct assault on democratic values and the constitutional right to peaceful protest."
He said repeated paper leaks, delays in recruitment, administrative failures, and the government's unresponsive attitude had pushed the future of millions of young people into uncertainty, adding that it was the government's responsibility to resolve these problems rather than suppress the voices raising them.
Dutt credited Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi with consistently fighting for the rights and future of the country's youth. He also criticised the detention of Congress leaders on 21 July while they protested peacefully outside the Prime Minister's residence against the lathi-charge, calling it "against democratic traditions" and reflective of the Central Government's "intolerant mindset."
Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee President Rao Narendra Singh said the country's youth were demanding not just employment but a fair, transparent, and credible examination and recruitment system. He said repeated irregularities and delays had shattered the confidence of millions of deserving young people, and affirmed that the Congress Party stood firmly with them.
Singh said the memorandum specifically demands that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan take moral responsibility for failing to safeguard the credibility of the education and examination system and resign immediately. It also calls for a comprehensive discussion in Parliament on examination and recruitment-related issues, and for the immediate withdrawal of all FIRs registered against students who took part in the New Delhi protest, along with an end to further action against them.
He expressed confidence that the President would intervene to protect the democratic aspirations and constitutional rights of the country's youth, and reiterated that the Congress Party would continue its struggle through democratic and constitutional means until justice is delivered.
The meeting was attended by MLA Ashok Arora, MLA Ramkaran Kala, District Congress Committee President and former MLA Mewa Singh, former MP Kailasho Saini, and several other senior Congress leaders and office-bearers.
