At Bengaluru youth meet, students call for accountability in education

AISA national president Neha Bora told a Bengaluru gathering that closing government schools affects more than the institutions themselves, as students and activists debated paper leaks, accountability and the condition of public education.

The meeting, titled ‘GenZ on the March: Paper Leak, Accountability, and the New Wave of Youth Politics in India’, was organised by the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Revolutionary Youth Association. Bora, who recently held a 23-day hunger strike in Delhi seeking Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, alleged that student protests in Bengaluru had drawn FIRs and detentions despite the Karnataka government expressing solidarity with protests in Delhi.

Actor Kishore pointed to gaps in government-school infrastructure, including toilets, classrooms, libraries and drinking water. Musician and author TM Krishna said students could not remain outside politics.

As part of the campaign, AISA launched a petition asking Azim Premji University to preserve democratic spaces on campus and revoke restrictions and suspensions imposed on students. The organisation said it will hold solidarity programmes across campuses on September 5, the death anniversary of journalist Gauri Lankesh.