PM speaks of 'forgiving' students; govt owes them justice, apology: Rahul

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, 2 August said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks about 'forgiving' students were misplaced, asserting that it was the government that owed students 'truth, justice and an apology'.

Gandhi made the remarks in an Instagram post while sharing a video of his interaction with the families of Gopika, Roshini and Vetri Anandan, three medical aspirants who died by suicide following the NEET paper leak and the subsequent cancellation of the examination. He met the families during his visit to Tamil Nadu on Saturday.

'During my visit to Tamil Nadu, I met the families of Gopika, Roshini and Vetri Anandan, three young medical aspirants whose lives were lost following the NEET paper leak and the cancellation of the examination. Each family was left with the same painful question: why should honest, hardworking students pay the price for a dishonest system?' Gandhi said.

He said a leaked question paper had led to the cancellation of the examination, a forced re-test and unbearable pressure on young minds.

'Behind every statistic is a child with a dream and a family now living with an irreplaceable loss,' he said. 'I listened to their pain. Our fight is for an education system where hard work is respected, examinations are fair and no student is pushed to the edge because institutions failed them,' the Lok Sabha LoP said.

"The prime minister speaks of 'forgiving' students. After listening to these parents, my conviction is even stronger: India's students need no forgiveness. The government owes them truth, justice and an apology," Gandhi asserted.

The accompanying video shows Gandhi interacting with the families of the three students.

Speaking to the bereaved families in Mamallapuram, Gandhi said, "Nothing is more painful than seeing a parent grieve their child. Behind every young life lost is a family carrying pain that will never leave them and serious questions about a broken education system. Leaked papers. Cancelled exams. Years of preparation destroyed overnight. Our students are told to work honestly in a system that is not honest with them.".

In an earlier post on X, Gandhi said, 'The tears of parents who have lost their children, their wailing; there is no greater sorrow than this. This grief will live with them forever and along with it remain many questions about this broken and corrupt education system.'

Referring to paper leaks and cancelled examinations, he said, 'The prime minister has the audacity to talk about forgiving the students. Has he even met a single grieving family who has lost their child, or those whose entire savings, life, time and dreams have been snatched away by paper leaks? The answer is no! India's students do not need the prime minister's forgiveness; Modi ji should apologise to them.'

In a video message on Friday, Modi said he and his late mother had been subjected to abusive language at Jantar Mantar during protests over the alleged NEET irregularities. He said dragging such "misguided children" to court would not solve the problem and that he wanted to forgive them instead.

With PTI inputs