Prayagraj, 20 July (HS): The City Congress Committee members

have extended their support to social activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on

a hunger strike since June 28 against the NEET paper leak.

At a meeting held on Monday afternoon at the party office in

Chowk under the president ship of City Congress Committee President Fuzail

Hashmi, party leaders strongly condemned the government's handling of the

issue, describing it as a violation of democratic rights. They also demanded

the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Senior Congress leader Shekhar Bahuguna criticized the

police action of detaining Wangchuk and admitting him to a hospital while he

was on hunger strike, calling it unjustified. He also condemned the alleged

police lathi-charge on students at Jantar Mantar, claiming it was carried out

at the behest of the Modi government, and demanded a judicial inquiry by a

sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

Congress leaders Kishore Varshney and Harikesh Tripathi

described the Modi government as authoritarian and alleged that its guiding principles

are untruth and violence. They stated that the NEET paper leak, the rising cost

of education, unemployment, and increasing student suicides are issues directly

linked to the future of India. They asserted that no force can prevent students

from raising their voices on these critical concerns. The leaders also welcomed

the nationwide movement launched by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in

support of students' interests.

Former Spokesman UPCC, Kishore Varshney, Harikesh Tripathi,

Parvez Siddiqui, Nayan Kushwaha, Afroz Ahmad, Anoop Tripathi, Ishtiyaq Ahmad,

Manas Shukla, Sartaj Mohammad, Ram Manorath Saroj, Ahmadullah, Sushmita Yadav,

Tabrez Ahmad, Pratima Tripathi, Rakesh Srivastava, Nafees Qureshi, Rajkumar

Shukla, Nasreen Bano, Kameshwar Sonkar, Mohd. Zaved, Sachin Kushwaha, Rizwana

Begum, Devendra Kumar, Darkhsha Qureshi, and others protested against the

government move to thwart march to Parliament.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi