Jantar Mantar protest doesn’t reflect next generation: Keralam Guv

CJP held a 36-day protest in Jantar Mantar from June 20 demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in the exam system and the NEET paper leak.

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday, September 11, said the student protest at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak did not reflect the true picture of the country’s next generation and stressed the need to focus on character building among young people.

Addressing a gathering at Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology here as part of its silver jubilee celebrations, Arlekar said students had every right to agitate for their demands but questioned the use of “filthy language” against the country’s leaders during protests.

“What we have seen at Jantar Mantar was not the true picture of our next generation. I don’t object to agitating about your demands — you have every right to do that. But the other part of it shows the cultural heritage of yours, ethos of yours, sanskar of yours,” he said.

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“Was there any real need to come on the streets and use the filthy language against the leaders of our country,” he asked.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a 36-day protest in Jantar Mantar from June 20 demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in the exam system and the NEET paper leak. They later gave up the protest after Pradhan stepped down from his office.

Arlekar said the country had fields, playgrounds, technology and technical education, but the question was whether enough attention was being given to the character of the younger generation.

“Where is the character? That is the question that elderly people have today,” he said.

He said character building and cultural values were traditionally imparted through families, but the responsibility had gradually shifted to educational institutions.

“Unfortunately, what we were in fact consistently pressing or looking at was our family life — our family, or kutumba, or parivar. That was the place we used to get our sanskar, our cultural ethos, understanding, practices, preaching. But gradually, we are lacking at that place also. Now that onus has unknowingly shifted to the educational institutions,” he said.

The governor said the role of educational institutions was not limited to teaching the curriculum or syllabus, but also included imparting human values, humanity and principles of life.

“These are the places where we will be learning. These are the places where we will be preaching, and these are the places where we will be propagating the values of our human life,” he said.

Educational institutions should have good libraries, laboratories and classrooms. They can also offer more to society beyond these facilities, Arlekar added.