NEET Paper Leak Row: Veteran BJP Leader Murli Manohar Joshi Slams Police Crackdown, Calls Students' Concerns 'Genuine'

New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Thursday came out in support of the students protesting against the alleged NEET paper leak, saying their "anxieties and concerns" regarding the examination system are "genuine".

Joshi also criticised the police crackdown on the protesting students that took place on Monday and calling it "merciless", he said such use of force shall alienate large sections of Indian society from the national goal of Viksit Bharat.

The former BJP president demanded that the concerns of the students must be handled with "empathy" and "a desire to find a lasting solution".

"It is painful to see young students from different parts of the country assembled for days on the streets of New Delhi. Their anxieties and concerns regarding the examination system are genuine and must be handled with empathy and a desire to find a lasting solution," Joshi said in a post on X.

"It is very painful to see that even young girls were brutally mishandled," he said.

Joshi said that such use of force shall alienate large sections of Indian society from the national goal of Viksit Bharat.

"I fervently hope that this is not treated merely as a law-and-order issue to be tackled through the use of force," the former Union minister added.

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