Image Courtesy:newonnews.com
In a bid to convince the Central government to postpone NEET, JEE, CLAT and UGC-NET and the CBSE compartment exams, more than 4,000 observed a hunger strike for an entire day on Sunday, reported LiveLaw.
In light of the on-going pandemic, students appearing for country-wide exams have appealed to the government to postpone the exams until the coronavirus pandemic is properly dealt with. University representative from Aligarh Muslim University and Jawaharlal Nehru University have also joined the student movement to address this issue. Aligarh University has also cancelled all its entrance exams in light of COVID-19.
On the day of the hunger strike, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in support of the students asking the Centre to listen to the demands of the students.
आज हमारे लाखों छात्र सरकार से कुछ कह रहे हैं। NEET, JEE परीक्षा के बारे में उनकी बात सुनी जानी चाहिए और सरकार को एक सार्थक हल निकालना चाहिए।
GOI must listen to the #StudentsKeMannKiBaat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 23, 2020
Many even submitted a petition for the postponement of exams to the Supreme Court. However, the apex court in a three-Judge Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra rejected the plea stating that “life cannot be stopped” because of COVID-19 and that exams should continue just as Courts have remained open.
As per the circulars published by the concerned authorities, the JEE (Main) shall be held from September 1 to September 6. Similarly, the NEET will be conducted on September 13, CLAT on September 7 and the UGC-NET will be held from September 16 to September 25.
Desperate to have the exams cancelled, students have taken to social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Some students have tweeted about the issues faced during State-level exams such as GUJCET.
These visuals of Gujarat Gujcet exams Are Really Terrible Imagine the situation when it comes to national level exams Govt Can’t Risk Life Of more then 2.5 Million Students On stake Safety Of Students Should Not Be Compromised#SWAMYJI_HELPJEENEET#SATYAGRAHAgainstExamInCovid pic.twitter.com/v7YGXKZH2L
— Manoj Singh Banjara / मनोज सिंह बंजारा (@ManojbanjaraIYC) August 24, 2020
Others still voiced their dissent on social media using trending hashtags such as #SATYAGRAHagainstexamsinCovid.
Aao mil kar diye jalayeein
.
.@sakshijoshii@Swamy39#StudentLivesMatter#मोदीजी_जॉब_दो#PostponeJEE_NEETinCovid#SATYAGRAH_AgainstExamsInCovid pic.twitter.com/A00uqfRaaq— Sandeep Ahirwar (@Sandeep82696861) August 23, 2020
Even Union Cabinet Minister Subramanian Swamy showed solidarity with the students for the postponement of exams and created his own hashtag of #swamyji_helpjeeneet.
Few days ago NTA even after Admit Cards were released for AIAPGET-2020( Ayush) & other Test Courses,postponed the examinations about one week before the schedule dates ! If these can be postponed why not NEET/ JEE, etc ? pic.twitter.com/Y2ghVsy8IZ
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 23, 2020
On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also sided with the students urging the government to consider the risk and postpone the exams for student safety.
Now with the directive of @EduMinOfIndia to conduct NEET, JEE 2020 in Sep, I would again appeal to the Centre to assess the risk and postpone these examinations until the situation is conducive again. It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all our students. (2/2)
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 24, 2020
Meanwhile, other people supporting the students have also posted on social media some even creating song parodies encouraging the postponement of exams.
As per the Worldometer, India currently records over 31 lakhs coronavirus cases. With no viable vaccine in sight, students grow concerned for their and their families’ health and thus demand that the government reconsider its decision not to postpone national exams.