The Yuva Sena on Friday demanded that Vinod Tawde, Minister for School Education, Higher and technical education, Sports and Youth welfare, Minority development, and Marathi Bhasha (Language) and Culture, either apologize to the student community or resign over his remarks to a student in Amravati.
Rude reply
On January 4, Mr. Tawde was invited as chief guest at a college in Amravati. Following the event, when a student asked the Minister about expensive education in the State, he asked the student to find a job to fund his education. Mr. Tawde also reportedly called on his security guards to “arrest” another student who was recording the exchange.
In a letter submitted to the Governor of Maharashtra, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, who is also the Chancellor of State universities, the Mumbai University Senate members from the student wing, called the minister’s attitude “dictatorial” and condemned his actions of calling for the arrest.
Stating that “the minister has lost his mental balance”, the members also asked the Governor to demand Mr. Tawde’s apology.
“The two students are journalism students, who are taught to ask questions. We live in a democracy where questioning somebody, even if he is a minister, is not a crime. The minister has a history of speaking rudely, which is clearly not the way to answer questions coming from students. The minister owes an apology to the student community,” Pradeep Sawant, a senate member from Yuva Sena, said.
The Yuva Sena has also launched a signature campaign in Mumbai University and other colleges in the State to encourage students to voice their opinion on the incident.
“Students are angry over the incident. We want students to voice their opinion and show support for the two targeted students. The student community must unite against such behaviour,” Vaibhav Thorat, another senate member said.