We feel like zombies: Bihar's Magadh Univ students launch YouTube Andolan because they're DESPERATE to write exams

The video titled #mulea, short for Magadh University Late Exam Andolan is a searing protest campaign demanding the conduct of examinations immediately
The students are so disturbed with the administration's incompetence that they have taken to YouTube and launched a protest campaign
The students are so disturbed with the administration's incompetence that they have taken to YouTube and launched a protest campaign

In a rare occurrence pretty much anywhere in our country, students from a university in Bihar are heard pleading "We want exams to take place". That's shocking, don't you think? But, that's exactly the sad state of affairs at Magadh University, the biggest government university in Bihar, which has as many as 4,50,000 students who are demanding that exams be conducted on time because of an unexplained delay that could prolong their undergraduate programmes by at least two years. This is why students have started protesting through a YouTube campaign called Magadh University Late Exam Andolan or #mulea

The university postponed the exams for the undergraduate courses including BA, BSc, BCom on the pretext of the Lok Sabha polls. And this is not the first time the students have been facing this kind of a situation. For the students who enrolled for the undergraduate programmes in 2016 that are typically three-years-long, for them, only one exam has been conducted until now. For the students who enrolled in 2017, not a single examination has been conducted yet.

The students are so disturbed with the administration's incompetence that they have taken to YouTube and launched a protest campaign. The YouTube video that has been doing the rounds on social media, begins with a group of students claiming they have become like zombies. You would obviously wonder why these students would say something like this. They go on to explain that the Magadh University has become like an epitome for institutes that are solely responsible for destroying the lives of students. A UG batch that was supposed to complete their graduation this year, they haven't even had their second-year semester exams yet. 

"This is a searing protest campaign demanding timely tests at the institute and is a wake-up call for the administration or the people who are responsible for this dire situation," the students explain. "For the past month, we have been running around every possible government office in the city, including the governor's office where we went twice. We didn't get an appointment or any kind of assurance. Defeated by all means, we went to the university administration to allow us to conduct at least a peaceful protest - but even that was declined. A lot of people have been asking us why didn't we approach the court, but our question is - don't we deserve the basic fundamental rights issued to us by our constitution? Do we have to resort to protest for every single issue?" one student is heard asking in the video.

According to a recent public official statement posted on the university’s website, second-semester exams for certain UG courses were postponed until June due to the general elections. However, the reasons behind the previous exam delays are still unclear. 

Students in the video said that they took to social media to reach more people as the administration didn't allow them to protest on campus. "We are making this video and posting it on YouTube because we are aware of the power of social media, what can happen if we use it wisely and to our advantage. Even if the conventional media is quiet about this, social media won't be, they will support us and we know that for sure," one of the students pleads in the video, while also requesting people to create two-minute videos in support of their demands.

The #mulea campaign has also found support among other aggrieved students across different platforms and from students and institutes across the country. Students have started sending in their videos expressing the issue. The group of students in the video has also written letters to the Bihar Governor, the Chief Minister and the State Human Rights Commission to take some kind of action but they haven't received any response yet.

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