Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 22 (IANS): Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor and the BJP on Wednesday protested after the Kerala Police registered a case against 600 people including students who came to write the Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical (KEAM) entrance examination which was held on July 16.
The Kerala Police in the capital city registered the case against mostly parents who accompanied their wards who wrote the KEAM exam.
On Tuesday, two students who wrote the exam tested Covid positive, while on Wednesday two more students turned positive.
Tharoor said he was shocked to learn that Police have registered a case against students for crowding at the entrance of St Mary's School here, alleging violation of protocols.
"They (Police) have demanded names and addresses. I'm outraged," said Tharoor.
"The student community and political leaders, including myself, had requested the Govt of Kerala to postpone this exam in the wake of the pandemic gripping the state. They unwisely went ahead and several students who appeared for the exam have tested positive in the last 48 hours. I condemn Govt's move to file police cases against those who were forced by Govt to appear for an avoidable exam, without allocating enough centres to prevent overcrowding. Govt is acting against the citizenry to cover up its own incompetence. I demand the cases be withdrawn," wrote Tharoor in his Facebook post.
Despite numerous requests from various quarters, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was adamant to hold the KEAM exam as scheduled. After the examination, he had congratulated all those who had worked to see it went off well.
State BJP president K. Surendran also slammed the Vijayan government for registering cases against the parents and their wards.
"While the Centre postponed the NEET, the Kerala government went ahead with it. A case should be registered against those responsible for holding the exam here. The Vijayan government which is now caught in the gold smuggling case is trying to sweep it under the carpet and divert attention. It has now turned against the parents and their wards. This is not acceptable at all," said Surendran.