“Use of Force Is Wrong”: Rahul Gandhi Backs Jharkhand Students Amid Protest Crackdown

As protests by students in Jharkhand turned tense on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came out strongly against the police crackdown, calling force against peaceful demonstrators “wrong.” on one of his x post

In a post on X

the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha urged the JMM-led Jharkhand government to keep talking to the students and resolve the issue quickly. 

“Students have every right to protest peacefully. Violence won’t fix anything — dialogue will. The state government should hear them out and act immediately,” Gandhi wrote.

His statement came just hours after protesters marching toward the Jharkhand Assembly faced batons and tear gas near the premises around 6 PM.

What’s the protest about?

Students have been agitating over alleged irregularities in recruitment exams, especially the preliminary stage of the 14th JPSC exam. They are also demanding the scrapping of 13 other tests conducted through an outsourcing agency, TDPL.

Last week during an online AMA, Gandhi was asked to support the Jharkhand agitation. He said the unrest reflects a bigger problem:  “Our education system is broken, expensive, and unfair. Every government — Centre, state, or Congress-run — must listen to students and bring real reform.”

State government responds

Inside the Assembly, Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar said the government had been trying to negotiate with students and had accepted most of their demands.

According to Kumar:

– A CID probe was ordered into the JPSC irregularities. The former JPSC chairman resigned and 19 people were arrested.

– The government also agreed to an ED probe after signs of financial fraud emerged.

– The 14th JPSC exam and backlog exams from 2023 and 2025 will be cancelled.

– A high-level committee was formed to engage with students and suggest reforms with help from IIT-ISM Dhanbad, IIM Ranchi and XLRI Jamshedpur.

However, Kumar accused the BJP of “hijacking” the movement. 

“The students were ready to accept our proposal. But BJP’s political agenda derailed the talks and pushed them toward today’s protest,” he said during Zero Hour.

He warned that any violence during the agitation should be dealt with strictly, and that the BJP would be responsible if things escalated.

What students are demanding

1. A full probe and accountability for exam irregularities 

2. Cancellation of exams with suspected fraud, including 13 TDPL-run tests 

3. Major reforms in how JPSC and JSSC function

On the JSSC-CGL exam, Kumar said the state can’t cancel it directly because it’s being monitored by the court.

The Jharkhand student protest has now become both an education issue and a political flashpoint. With Gandhi backing dialogue and the state government blaming the opposition for escalation, all eyes are on whether talks can resume before the situation worsens.