It is college admission season and students are queuing up at varsities around the country for admissions into various courses. However, several students in Darjeeling have been forced to sit out the admission cycle, owing to the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
The bandh shows no sign of abating – food and supplies are running low, the tourism business has taken a massive hit, and residents of the hilly town are caught in the middle of the battle between the West Bengal government and the pro-Gorkhaland supporters. To add to their woes, the internet shutdown imposed by the Mamata Banerjee government has rendered several students unable to apply for colleges online.
Deadlines for applications to a number of colleges have passed, while several other varsities are scheduled to close the admission window in a few days.
“The worst thing they have done is to ban the internet. They have disconnected all the internet services. No one has access to the internet here now,” a student from Darjeeling told The Quint.
“Students like me need to apply for colleges. Most of the colleges let us fill the application forms for courses online. But we can't fill in any of these forms and the deadlines for applications are almost over,” said the student (whose name has been withheld for security reasons).
By doing this, the government has taken away our right to education. They are pushing a large number of students towards a bleak future. At least let us have the right to access the internet. If we can’t apply now, we won’t get admission anywhere. What will we do then? We will have to quit studying and we will be out on the streets.
“What they are doing to us is pathetic. They are suppressing us in every way and they are stooping to the lowest possible level”.
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