Students, activists and members of the film fraternity came together at the Loyola College on Sunday to pay homage to Anitha, a student from Ariyalur, who committed suicide after being unable to secure an MBBS seat.
Convened by director Pa Ranjith, the meeting was termed ‘Urimai Yendhal’ (the need to take back rights). While students and the other participants at the meeting paid homage before a portrait of Anitha, another photo of her studying, captioned ‘Dr. Anitha’, which was set on a black banner made for the backdrop on the stage. Actor Vijay Sethupathi, who participated in the meeting, said that it was important for people to come together and stand united in taking the issue forward so that it can evolve into a bigger protest.
Stating that he and the film fraternity would help students who were in need of financial assistance to obtain coaching for the NEET exam in the future, actor and president of the Producer’s Council Vishal said that the public should hold the government accountable and ensure that students like Anitha are not disadvantaged.
Mr. Ranjith had visited Anitha’s house on Saturday in Ariyalur and had spoken about how NEET was a weapon which had completely destroyed all the hard work and efforts put in by her to secure good marks in Class X and XII. “This kind of a system will completely bury the dreams and hard work of the downtrodden,” he had said.
Among the members of the film fraternity who participated were directors Mysskin, Balaji Shaktivel, Vetrimaaran, Magizh Thirumeni, Suseenthran and Vijay Kumar, as well as actors Samuthirakani and Kalaiarasan.