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>> These are the scenes playing out across
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India today. Students are on the streets
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uprooting barricades, raising slogans,
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and demanding accountability. Many got
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beaten by police and are still nursing
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injuries after clashes during
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demonstrations. The demand is
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They want accountability over repeated
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allegations of examination
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irregularities and paper leaks, and they
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want those responsible to answer for
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them. At the center of this political
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storm is Union Education Minister
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Dharmendra Pradhan. But these images are
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only half part of the story because
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nearly three decades ago, the man who is
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today defending the system was himself
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on the streets questioning one.
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Let's rewind to 1997.
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A young Dharmendra Pradhan was then
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serving as the National Secretary of the
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Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad,
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better known as the ABVP. That year
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allegations surfaced that an examination
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paper had been leaked in Odisha.
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Demanding an investigation and action
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against those responsible,
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Pradhan reportedly led nearly 1,500
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students in a protest outside the Odisha
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Secretariat, then under a Congress
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According to contemporary reports, the
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demonstration began peacefully, but it
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didn't stay that way for long.
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Police eventually carried out a lathi
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charge to disperse the crowd.
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Among those injured was Dharmendra
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Pradhan himself. Reports from the time
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say he was severely beaten and suffered
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multiple fractures during the protest.
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Back then, he was a student leader
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demanding accountability over an alleged
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examination paper leak. His demand was
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simple, that the integrity of
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examinations must be protected and those
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responsible must be held accountable.
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Nearly 30 years later, history appears
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to have come full circle. This time,
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Dharmendra Pradhan is no longer leading
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the protests. He's the education
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minister facing them. Following
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allegations surrounding examination
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irregularities, students across the
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country have demanded greater
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transparency, accountability, and in
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some cases, his resignation.
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Responding to the protests, Pradhan
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described the call Crores Janata Party
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as B team of disruptive elements. He
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also alleged that those rejected by
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democracy had returned in disguise to
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Those remarks triggered sharp political
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reactions and intensified the debate
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surrounding the protests. That contrast
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is now at the heart of the national
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Critics are asking a simple question. If
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protesting against an alleged paper leak
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was seen as a legitimate fight for
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justice when Dharmendra Pradhan stood on
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why are students raising similar
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concerns today being dismissed as
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politically motivated or disruptive?
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Supporters of the government reject that
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comparison. They argue that the present
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protests have political backing and
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cannot be equated with the movement
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Pradhan was part of nearly three decades
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The protesters, however, insist that
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their demands remain unchanged. They say
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they are asking for transparent
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examinations, accountability from those
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in charge, and justice for students
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are at stake. And that is the irony that
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has come to define this debate.
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