Ramanathapuram
Condemning the arrest of party volunteers for staging a protest against NEET in Rameswaram, Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) founder-leader T. Velmurugan said the party would continue the protest against NEET till Tamil Nadu was exempted and other ‘anti-people’ policies of the Central and State governments.
Talking to reporters after visiting six party volunteers, including south zone youth wing secretary Jerone Kumar, who were arrested and lodged at the district jail here, on Monday, Mr. Velmurugan said the arrest for peacefully staging the protest was an attempt to stifle the voice of opposition and exposed the State government’s double stand on the issue.
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The police arrested the volunteers under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience to public servant) and 447 (criminal trespass) of the IPC, read with Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Property (prevention of damage and loss) Act. The party volunteers staged the protest in a democratic way, but the police treated them like criminals, he said.
Pointing out that Krishnasamy Srinivasan, who accompanied his son to a NEET examination centre in Kerala, and Kannan, who accompanied his daughter to a NEET centre in Madurai, died of heart attack, Mr. Velmurugan said the Central and State governments should be held responsible for the deaths.
When the State government was conducting Plus Two and Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission examinations in a foolproof manner, the CBSE conducted NEET on its own and ‘harassed’ the students, he said.
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He urged the State government to launch criminal action against ‘erring’ CBSE officials. The Edappadi K. Palaniswami government surrendered to the CBSE and betrayed the interest of the students, he said.