Students Protest Against CJP Convenor Abhijit Dipke In Latur, Slap Footwear To His Image

Latur, Oct 2: A group of students staged a protest against CJP convenor Abhijit Dipke at Gandhi Chowk in the afternoon in Latur on Friday, demanding answers over issues related to the NEET examination.

The demonstration was led by Satish Karande.

During the protest, the students displayed banners and placards questioning Dipke and raised slogans against him. As part of the demonstration, some students slapped footwear on a photograph of Dipke displayed on a protest banner.

Protesters raise NEET questions

The banner carried the message, "NEET pe Jawab Do Abhijit Dipke!” and raised several questions concerning the NEET issue, seeking explanations from Dipke.

The protesters said they wanted accountability and answers to the questions raised by students regarding the NEET examination. The demonstration at Gandhi Chowk drew attention from citizens. The banner highlights these key points:

Abhijit Dipke, answer on the NEET issue, Why are you silent about the accused?, Why is Abhijit Dipke silent, What is the future course of the NEET case?, What have you done to seek Central government assistance for students who died by suicide?

Karande criticises alleged silence

Student leader Satish Karande criticised CJP convenor Abhijit Dipke over his alleged silence on the NEET issue and challenged him to take up the matter with the Centre and fight for the future of students preparing for the medical entrance examination.

Speaking to PTI, Karande said students had been in contact with Dipke for the past one-and-a-half months, urging him to take the NEET issue forward.

“Whenever we approach him, we are given evasive replies such as ‘I will speak to the committee’ or ‘I will speak to my team’. Nothing concrete is being done or said on the issue,” Karande alleged.

Students seek stronger action

He said Dipke had subsequently taken up the ZP issue but left it midway and had now gone to Mumbai.

“NEET is a turning point in the lives of around 20 lakh students every year. This is a very serious issue. We had expected Dipke, who had emerged as a leader during the earlier NEET agitation, to continue fighting for the students,” Karande said.

Karande claimed that despite repeated attempts, Dipke and his team were not responding to their calls or maintaining communication with the students.

He questioned whether Dipke had approached the National Testing Agency (NTA) to seek answers about measures being taken to prevent irregularities in future examinations, or met the Union education minister to discuss safeguards for upcoming exams.

“One examination may have been conducted and action may have been taken against those accused. The legal process will take its course. But the larger question is how future paper leaks and irregularities will be prevented. A strong mechanism is needed to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” Karande said.

He said students had expected Dipke to continue the agitation and press for a stronger and more transparent system for conducting NEET examinations.

Karande issues open challenge

Karande also alleged that Dipke was giving evasive responses and claimed that students felt he was no longer pursuing the NEET issue with the same intensity. These were Karande's allegations and were not independently verified.

“I want to issue an open challenge to Abhijit Dipke. If you do not take up the NEET issue strongly, press the Centre on the matter and fight for the future of students preparing for NEET, we will oppose your programmes in Maharashtra,” Karande said.

He said the issue was not about politics but about the future of students, particularly those from economically weaker sections.

“We had come out in support of you when students across the country stood with your movement. Now we will come forward for our own future and the future of students,” Karande said.

Karande urged Dipke to work for students without bringing political considerations into the issue and said he would oppose what he described as “stunts” in the name of student movements if the NEET issue was not pursued seriously.

“The NEET issue was started with a larger objective. Our expectation was that the movement would be sustained until a robust system was put in place for conducting the examination,” he said.