Voices of dissent from people from all walks of life have been echoing across India over the last one month over the ongoing NEET-UG protests led by the recently-formed Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. As part of these demonstrations, director Pa Ranjith's Neelam Cultural Centre organised a protest at Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore on Thursday. The protest was attended by other noted directors like Vetri Maaran and Ameer, singer-rapper Arivu, actor Andrea Jeremiah, music composer Sai Abhyankkar and many others.
Expressing solidarity with the student protesters, Pa Ranjith questioned CM Vijay's silence on the issue. "Has the Chief Minister not seen those videos? How can you remain a silent spectator when students are being assaulted? The government itself should provide a space for students to protest. We want a Chief Minister who stands with the people. The fight against NEET should not remain just a slogan—you (the Chief Minister) must join us in this struggle," he said. He also probed about Vijay's cabinet ministers refusing to raise their voice for Dalit issues. "Chief Minister Vijay has appointed eight Dalits as ministers. But it has already been two months since the government came to power. Except for Minister Vanni Arasu, have any of the other seven Dalit ministers spoken about Dalit issues even once?" he asked.
Vetri Maaran called for the abolition of the NEET examination, describing the ongoing CJP protests as a reflection of the Union government's failure.
"If students are forced to come out and protest, it means the institutions meant to address their concerns are not functioning properly. That itself is an indicator of the government's failure. Our demand should not be for a 'fair NEET'—it should be for the complete abolition of NEET.
I see the burden of NEET firsthand. My friend's children have had to sacrifice an entire academic year just to prepare for and clear the exam. NEET is taking medical education away from us and forcing us to stand helplessly before the government. We must unite and intensify the demand to abolish NEET. We will continue to stand for that cause," he said.
Actor-singer Andrea Jeremiah said it was the first protest she had participated in and expressed solidarity with the students' movement. "This is the first protest of my life. I've been following the developments over the past week. Though we may be far away from Jantar Mantar, we are all emotionally invested in this issue," she said.
Andrea then quoted Rabindranath Tagore's popular poem 'Where the Mind Is Without Fear' from Gitanjali, highlighting the line, "Where knowledge is free." "We are all protesting because we believe that knowledge should be free. Knowledge is our birthright, and if the system denies us that right, then the system must be rectified," she said.
