By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
After the monsoon fury, Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, is now witnessing protests by unemployed youths that has already raised the political temperature.
The protests occurred immediately after the Sept 21 alleged leak of a question paper for the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) graduate-level examination.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is on defensive mode after feeling the heat of the protests. There are reasons to believe. One big reason is that there was a big security lapse at the Bhadrabad Jat centre in Haridwar from where the examination paper was allegedly leaked despite all the tall claims of the foolproof arrangements.
Buckling under the pressure, the government has ordered a SIT probe under the supervision of a High Court judge in the alleged paper leak. Khalid Malik, a candidate, had sent screenshots of the paper outside the Bahadrabhad Jat centre. This caused a big uproar in the social media with a group of unemployed youths holding protests.
Despite the SIT probe, the protesting students remained adamant saying the dharna would continue unless the government accept their four key demands that include a CBI probe.
The protests are getting louder. A video of a young girl ranting “JNU type” slogans in Dehradun went viral immediately after the SIT probe was ordered. And on Thursday, scores of NSUI students marched through the streets of Dehradun promising their support to the agitating youths.
Many Congress leaders have also participated in the dharna outside the Parade Ground in Dehradun.
Chief Minister Dhami is finding it an uphill task to deal with the new disaster emanating from the protests. Sources close to Dhami did not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy.
The Uttarakhand Berojgar Sangh, which is protesting against the alleged leak of three pages of a question paper has demanded a CBI investigation into the “irregularities in the examination.” They have also demanded the immediate resignation of the UKSSSC’s chairman G S Martolia, cancellation of the examination, and amendments in the recruitment rules.
State Vice President of the Berojgar Sangh Suresh Singh said, “We will not end our protest until the state government accepts all our demands.”
Amid the uproar caused by the leak of three pages of the question paper during a competitive examination for various departments on Sunday, a delegation led by the Sangh President Ram Kandwal met Chief Minister Dhami, but the meeting yielded no results.
However, Singh alleged that widespread irregularities occurred in the examination and that the unemployed would continue their protest until the government met their demands.
Commenting on the issue, Chief Minister Dhami said attempts are being made to play with the future of the youths and spread chaos in the state. The Chief Minister said strict action will be taken in this case. Already, two officials, including assistant professor Suman, who solved the question paper to send back to Malik, and two police cops have been placed under suspension.