The police chased us and beat us with sticks. They slapped us with serious charges like attempt to murder and inciting riots. We were complaining about the paper leak and we were victims. Instead, we were put in jail for seven days. Now even our family has turned their back on us. On one hand, the age for a government job is passing and on the other hand, we are afraid that even if we get a job, the police will trap us in verification.
Every time we fill the form we have to tell them that we are not criminals. The charges against us have not been proven. We are fed up of going to courts. We never thought that the police will treat us like this for protesting against the paper leak. Our lives have been ruined.
For the next story of the ‘Paper Leak’ series, we reached Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand. On 8 and 9 February 2023, 7 students were arrested for protesting against the Uttarakhand Patwari Recruitment Paper Leak. We met 4 of these students.
We met 27-year-old Shubham Negi, with a light beard, a cap on his head and a light smile on his face, at Gandhi Park in Dehradun.
Shubham says- ‘I had a dream of becoming an IAS. I also prepared while staying in Delhi. After giving the exam twice, I was not selected, so I returned to Dehradun. After that I gave exams like Uttarakhand PCS, Uttarakhand SSC and Patwari, but did not get success. When I gave the Patwari exam in early 2023, I hoped that I would get a job in the new year, but the carelessness of the system dashed it.’
Shubham says- ‘It is about 8 February 2023. When the matter of paper leak in Patwari recruitment came to light, the students were heartbroken. The students started a movement in Gandhi Park, Dehradun against the paper leak. I was also involved in the movement.
Late night, police in civil dress also joined the protest. Then the policemen started misbehaving with Uttarakhand Berojgar Sangh president Bobby Pawar and his companions, the video of which went viral overnight.
By 10 am the next day, a crowd of thousands of students gathered outside Gandhi Park. The agitation gained momentum. By evening, the police surrounded the students from all sides. The students thought that the police was being deployed to maintain law and order, but the police started raining lathis on them.
The students started being loaded into police vans. The police were loading the boys into the vehicles like sheep and goats. The policemen were kicking the boys from behind who were sitting quietly in the vehicles.
Shubham says, ‘We did not know that the police would become monsters. We were victims of paper leak, the police picked us up and put us in jail. They imposed sections like attempt to murder and inciting riots. I still remember those seven days spent in jail. First the fight in Gandhi Park and then the abuse in the police station.
What was our fault after all? Now instead of making notes and going to classes, we have to visit lawyers. Now while filling any government exam form, we have to attach an NOC (affidavit) that the charges against us have not been proved. For example, we have to state that we are not criminals.
The family has turned their back on him. The already bad financial condition has worsened. The neighbours and relatives have started taunting him. They say what kind of education were you pursuing that you had to go to jail.’
Shubham’s father is a farmer and his mother is a teacher. He is the eldest of three siblings. Now he does not have the courage to ask for money from home, so he gives home tuitions to meet his expenses.
He smiles and says, ‘Sometimes it seems that the hard work was not enough due to which no paper was released, sometimes it also seems that there is so much flaw in the system that we are working hard for nothing, everything happens through setting. After conducting the exam, it is told that you have got a fair chance, but only the one who has 10-20 lakhs gets selected.’
26-year-old Sandeep Chauhan, a resident of Uttarkashi, also spent seven days in jail. He was beaten up by the police. He says, ‘I had never seen a court before. Now that a case has been filed against me, I am scared. Due to the frequent visits to police stations and courts, I have become distant from books. Now I am not able to study like before.
When I came out of jail, I got full support from my family because we were fighting for our rights. It was the government’s fault, not ours. I never thought that I would be prosecuted for participating in a protest.