The Students Federation of India (SFI) on Monday alleged that the Delhi Police detained several of its leaders and activists during the ‘Chalo NTA’ protest in the national capital, where students had gathered to march to the National Testing Agency (NTA) headquarters and submit a memorandum seeking the scrapping of the examination body.
The protest was organised over alleged irregularities in the UGC-NET 2026 examinatio held in June, which SFI claimed had raised serious concerns about the credibility of the country’s examination system. According to SFI, those detained included Delhi state president Sooraj Elamon, joint secretary Mehina Fathima, vice president Arif Siddiqui and committee members Sakhi, Anil and Sohan.
The student organisation said the protest was called in response to several alleged irregularities in the UGC-NET examination, including the cancellation of the Jalandhar examination due to technical failures, large scale repetition of questions across multiple subjects, spelling and factual errors and allegations that AI-generated questions were used in the paper.
In a statement, SFI said, “SFI strongly condemns the brutal detention of students by the Delhi Police during the ‘Chalo NTA’ protest held today. Students had assembled to march peacefully to the National Testing Agency (NTA) office to submit a memorandum demanding the scrapping of the NTA in light of the serious irregularities in the UGC-NET examination.”
The organisation further alleged, “Instead of allowing a peaceful democratic protest, the Delhi Police physically assaulted and detained protesting students, attempting to suppress their legitimate demands for a fair and credible examination system.”
Reiterating its demands, the federation said, “SFI strongly condemns this undemocratic action and reiterates its demand for the immediate scrapping of the NTA, an independent inquiry into the UGC-NET irregularities and accountability for all those responsible for the repeated failures that have jeopardised the future of lakhs of students. Attempts to silence student voices through police repression will not deter the struggle for justice and educational accountability.”
There was no immediate response from the Delhi Police or the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the allegations made by SFI.
