Tura, July 22: Bernard Rimpu N Marak, BJP MDC from Tura and vice-president of the party’s Meghalaya unit, has sparked discussion online after a Facebook post in which he questioned whether calls for the Education Minister’s resignation would actually fix the state’s deeper educational problems.
In the post, written in Garo with an accompanying English translation, Marak argued that removing the minister alone would not resolve what he called the “deep-rooted problems” in the education system. He asked who would consistently champion the concerns of teachers, youths, and students across the state, and said the sector needed “genuine commitment, accountability, and sustained reforms” rather than “political slogans.” He added that he would welcome anyone willing to make a firm commitment to the cause, saying leaders should be “prepared not only to criticize but also to take responsibility.”
The post has drawn hundreds of reactions and dozens of comments since it was published, with responses split. Some have echoed Marak’s point that a resignation alone wouldn’t fix systemic issues in education, while others have pushed back, arguing it was an odd position for a leader from the very party facing resignation demands to take — especially given how student protesters have been treated nationally. A number of commenters reportedly framed his post as deflecting from accountability within his own party.
Marak’s post comes as students across India, including in Meghalaya, have been protesting for weeks demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination paper leaks, most prominently tied to NEET. Students gathered at Don Bosco Square in Shillong in a social media-driven demonstration demanding accountability, urgent reforms in the education sector, and the resignation of Pradhan, in solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike in Delhi. Nationally, the “cockroach” movement protests have seen more than 100 people injured in police baton and tear gas action, drawing criticism of the government’s handling of the situation.
It is against this backdrop that some critics say Marak’s post — calling resignation demands insufficient without naming his own party’s role in the crisis — sits uneasily, given the BJP is the party facing the resignation calls and whose government has been linked to the crackdown on protesters nationwide. Supporters of his stance, meanwhile, say he has a point that structural reform matters more than a single resignation.
Garo Hills, like much of Meghalaya, has increasingly seen education policy become a flashpoint, with local leaders — including Marak himself — separately criticizing the state’s implementation of central education funds and the lack of government colleges in the region. But the timing of this particular post, alongside a national student movement targeting his own party’s leadership, appears to have sharpened the divide in reactions, with the comment section reflecting both agreement with his call for sustained reform and skepticism about where that call is coming from.
