DU student held in Noida unrest misses exams despite court permission

Noida: A Delhi University law student arrested in connection with the April 13 industrial unrest in Noida missed his end-semester examination despite court permission allowing him to write the papers on June 2.Yogesh Meena, a first-year student at Sri Ram College of Commerce and an active member of Disha Students’ Organisation, is currently lodged in Luksar jail after being arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on May 30 from near the Ramjas College campus.After he missed his examination on June 2, Yogesh approached the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate seeking permission to sit for his remaining papers — property law on June 5 and international law on June 11. The court allowed his plea, but he was not taken to the examination centre for Thursday’s paper.His classmates alleged that the authorities failed to comply with the court’s order, effectively denying him an opportunity to continue his studies.Sameer Kumar, another student who was picked up by cops with Yogesh but later released, has alleged that they were subjected to caste-based remarks at the time of his arrest and claimed he was being targeted for his involvement in labour rights campaigns.Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida (CaRWAN), a group supporting workers and activists linked to the case, said Yogesh was not convicted of any offence and should have been allowed to appear for his examinations. “He is a sensitive, conscientious person who supported the demand that workers in Noida should have a liveable wage, who believed that their strike must be held peacefully, and took many efforts to appeal for the same. For these beliefs and actions, today Yogesh is facing incarceration, character assassination, custodial torture, casteist humiliation, and now, denial of his right to education and destruction of his future,” a statement issued by the group read.Police did not issue a response to the allegations at the time of publication.