The unresolved questions students are still asking
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, ending a month-long standoff between the government and thousands of students who had camped out at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding his exit.
The resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is being described by several observers as the first significant concession Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has made in the face of sustained street protest since the paper leak crisis began. But the question that now dominates political and academic circles in India is simple: what next?
Pradhan announced his decision on X, saying he had sent his resignation letter to the Prime Minister. “Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation… I have sent my resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he wrote, adding that he respected “the aspirations, feelings, and legitimate expectations of the country’s youth.”
Get The Probe News’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
In a separate open letter, Pradhan invoked his four-decade association with education and students, and said he did not want the protests to leave young people “trapped in a web of confusion” or exploited by forces working against the country’s interests. He also thanked colleagues in the Union Council of Ministers and officials of the Education Ministry for their support during his tenure.
