COLOMBO : A large group of youth activists and representatives from civil and social societies staged a silent demonstration near the Indian high commission in Colombo on Monday, July 27 to express their solidarity with the youths of India who successfully carried out their mission..
Folliwing is the statement treased on the occasion.
“We, the undersigned people, movements, organisations and unions from Sri Lanka, stand in solidarity with the students and thousands of protesters who have been raising their voices against systemic state failure, corruption and brutal violence in India. This started off as a protest against the leaked National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), a medical entrance examination which has seen 150+ paper leaks in the 12 years it has been administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA). At least 21 students have died by suicide as a result of the 2026 leak that sparked the current protests. The protests have since evolved with broader demands for critical social and economic justice, and just futures for India’s citizens, especially its youth. Peaceful protesters gathered at sites in Delhi from June 2026, and it soon spread across India. They have been calling for immediate reforms to the education sector, accountability for multiple exam-related leaks and scams, and the resignation of the Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan.
The voice of India’s youth has been unstoppable, despite ridicule from the highest authorities and brutal police violence. What started off as a parody stemming from remarks by the Chief Justice of India who compared unemployed youth who turn to web journalism, Right To Information (RTI) and online activism, to ‘cockroaches’, galvanised into a national movement for rights, justice and reform.
Firstly, we wish to applaud student protestors for sustaining the struggle, despite heavy odds, police brutality and winning the immediate demands of your mass protests – the resignation of the Union Minister, compensation for the victims of the NEET leaks,, assurances of no First Information Reports (FIRs) against protesting students etc., We also recognise that this could be a significant step towards achieving meaningful education reforms in India. However, learning from the Sri Lankan and regional experience, ensure that you remain vigilant and maintain pressure on the Government to deliver on its’ promises.
Furthermore, our experience of protracted legal action against protesters by the Sri Lankan Government, should stand as a cautionary tale. As Lankan youth also gear up to respond to half-baked education reforms sans any proper public consultations, we take heart in the struggle of our sisters and brothers in India. There is much to be gained by radical forces working together.
The Indian state has responded with customary violence. On multiple occasions, the Police used brutal force, including lathis, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protests and prevent students from marching towards Parliament. Hundreds of protesters have been injured due to police violence. We condemn the police violence and stand with students and protesters across India, who continue to resist peacefully, despite the violence and provocation by the State. The police who attacked peaceful protestors must be identified and charged for their atrocities. The calls for reform have now extended to calls for accountability for violence, and reach all the way to the Prime Minister’s Office.
This moment in India is reminiscent of our own struggles during the 2022 People’s Struggle (Aragalaya/Porattam), and the student-led uprisings in Bangladesh and Nepal. It reflects a deep frustration among the youth and people, against unemployment, rampant corruption, inequality, systems that label, oppress and diminish a vast majority of citizens. State disinformation and false prophesies around development-led growth, and ethno-nationalist ideology, have failed to convince a population who witness daily realities of struggle and suffering.
The student protests cannot be viewed in isolation from longstanding struggles by Dalit, indigenous communities, farmers and union workers to protect their lands, livelihoods and the environment. In Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, tribal communities protest the Ken-Betwa river link project that would dispossess them of their lands and resources. In Kaziranga, Assam, activists protest the Hyatt Development Project, which threatens community lands. In Bidadi, Karnataka and Thane, Maharashtra, farmers and workers push back against the building of ‘India’s first AI-powered township‘ and an Amazon AI Data Centre, because of the disastrous impact it will have on the environment. Indian authorities have systematically oppressed and criminalised peaceful protest movements, falsely labeling people and community leaders as “militants” and “anti-national”.
Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, the BJP regime has been adopting blatantly fascist methods of governance. The students and youth of India are the harbingers of change India is in dire need of – turning away from attacking imagined enemies, to attacking their real one. Dharmendra Pradhan has fallen. Modi and the BJP have been shaken! It is now time for the youth and working class of the South Asian region to unite and fight alongside one another! Jai Bhim! : press statement from the group ,”
