New Delhi: Seventeen-year-old Yash Kumar told his parents he was still in Kota. Sixteen-year-old Meena said she was travelling to Delhi for a friend’s birthday.
Instead, both boarded trains to the capital to join the ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy.
They are among several students who say they have concealed their participation from their families, believing the cause is worth the risk.
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While the agitation has drawn support from civil society groups, teachers, political organisations and citizens, its core remains students who say they are fighting for the future of the country’s education system.
Kumar, a Class 12 student from Kota who is originally from Bihar, said students are often told that studying hard is enough to secure their future.
“Students in our country are always told to focus only on studies and everything else will fall into place. But when students dedicate years of their lives to becoming doctors, engineers or teachers, and then the government makes mistake after mistake, who suffers?” he asked.
Kumar said neither his parents nor his friends know the real reason behind his presence in Delhi.
“My parents think I am still in Kota and my friends believe I came to Delhi to meet my brother,” he said.
Such untold stories have become a quiet undercurrent of the protest, where many young demonstrators have concealed their participation from their families to avoid opposition.
Among them is 16-year-old Meena, who goes by her first name and hopes to appear for the NEET examination in 2028.
Originally from Uttar Pradesh and currently living with her grandparents in Mumbai, Meena travelled to Delhi after a childhood friend invited her to join the protest.
“I told my grandparents I was coming to Delhi to attend my friend’s birthday party. They were initially against the trip, but I somehow convinced them,” she said.
For Meena, the protest is about protecting the future of students who are yet to enter the examination system.
“There comes
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