Following the protest by Indian students, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from his post. Many Bollywood celebrities stood in solidarity with the students, and famous lyricist Manoj Muntashir also expressed his support to the students demanding justice in the NEET paper leak. However, he questioned the direction and representation of the protests. While speaking to us exclusively, he called for systemic reforms, but also discussed what he sees as wrong with the student protest.
Manoj Muntashir expresses his reservations about students’ agitation against NEET leaks
“Students must be heard. How can there be another opinion on this? Whatever they say, and if even one student loses his life, then the whole system must be held accountable. And we see that today, the post of Prime Minister has also arrived,” declared the famous lyric before the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.“He has formed the SIT. It has been written in the Prime Minister’s post that he will punish every single culprit who contributed to the NEET paper leak,” he added.Then sharing what he found wrong with the movement, he said, “At the same time, what happened to Jantar Mantar? What is it? We want to see this country become Bangladesh? We want to see us become Nepal? The way the youth are misled, the youth of this country deserve a better representation.”
Manoj Muntashir says he is not against the students’ movement; he does not agree to the representation
“The issue that is there, the NEET issue is a big issue,” he said before asking, “Are we talking about this issue?”“We should listen to the students 100%. And I’m sure that the outcome of this movement will be something positive. Their pain, their suffering will reach our Prime Minister, reach the government. And it has arrived. I saw that it has arrived. That’s it,” he added.“It is not that the paper leak has happened for the first time. This has happened before as well. So there is a problem with the system. And this problem is not with the ministers and the governments. It has happened to previous governments, and it is happening to this government as well. So there is a problem. It is a corrupt system. Please fix that system,” he clarified.Elaborating on his point further, he said, “If someone says that someone should come forward to promote the system, then that person is wrong. There is no advocacy for the system. Here, I am completely with the students.”“But I am not with the people who are traitors. I am not with the people who say India is broken,” he concluded.