MARGAO: Around 30 students of Government College, Quepem (GCQ) held a protest against the principal for allegedly failing them in their supplementary second-year Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) exams on the grounds that they belonged to a lower caste or religious minority.
Over 100 students answered the recently-concluded exams, which was their last attempt to get promoted to the third year. GCQ student and member of the Congress student wing NSUI, Gitesh Naik, led the protest. They will hold another protest outside the college on Tuesday.
“Injustice has been done to the lower-caste students. We have been failed in the exam because we belong to other backward classes and the minority community. Students who were caught copying have passed. Some students passed even after being absent. Is it so difficult for low-class people to get education?” said Gitesh.
GCQ Principal Bhaskar Nayak, whose cabin was under police protection, said, “The student’s caste or religion is not written on the answer paper. This accusation against me is a baseless one.”
He added that independent committees had already looked into the allegations of out-of-syllabus questions being asked to the students.
GCQ sources stated that Gitesh Naik was also involved in an abusive argument with the head clerk. A student said, “This is a personal war as well as a political gimmick of the NSUI leader Gitesh. No student is behind him; we believe in our principal.”
