NEW DELHI: Hundreds of angry students took to the streets of the Indian capital Friday as police quizzed dozens of people over the leaking of high school exams that will force more than one million students to retake tests.
Police have questioned 45 people, including students and tutors, over the leak but no arrests have been announced.
Mathematics and economics exam papers were distributed on the WhatsApp messaging app prior to the tests, forcing the cancelations and sparking fury among students and their parents.
On a second day of protests, hundreds of students in New Delhi chanted against the exam board, which they accused of negligence.
Education secretary Anil Swarup said more than one million students will have to resit the economics exam on April 25.
The mathematics test may be held in July. This could be restricted to Delhi and neighboring Haryana state, however, as an investigation found the leak was limited to these areas.
Around 1.6 million students nationwide had feared they would have to retake the maths exam.
“It is most unfortunate... that children have been made to suffer on account of someone else playing dirty tricks,” Swarup said.
Cheating and exam fraud — such as paying bribes to buy test papers — is common in India. More elaborate ruses have included relatives scaling the walls of exam centers to give crib sheets to students.
The Central Board of Secondary Education exams are crucial for students hoping to attend India’s most prestigious universities.
Angry parents and students have demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has faced criticism over digital security in recent weeks, especially over an identity card database that holds the biometric and personal details of more than one billion Indians.
India’s ruling and opposition parties have also accused each other of mining and sharing the personal information of people who follow their social media accounts or use their apps, similar to the recent Facebook data scandal.
That row erupted after a security expert alleged that user data of people linked to Prime Minister Modi’s personal app was shared without their consent.
Students protest as India sets new dates for exams
Students protest as India sets new dates for exams
US accuses South Africa of harassing US officials working with Afrikaners
WASHINGTON: Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.
The State Department said that passport information of US officials was leaked and warned in a statement that “failure by the South African government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences.”
South Africa replied that the allegation was unsubstantiated and rejected “any suggestion of state involvement in such actions.”
The accusations came after South Africa arrested and expelled Wednesday seven Kenyans brought in by the US government to assist in processing Afrikaners seeking to move to the United States.
President Donald Trump’s administration has claimed Afrikaners are victims of discrimination and even “genocide,” which the Pretoria government strongly denies.
South Africa said the Kenyans arrested at a processing center on Tuesday were on tourist visas that did not allow them to work — the type of violation seized on by Trump as he carries out mass deportations from the United States.
The State Department alleged that Americans had also been briefly held in the raid, which it said the United States “condemns in the strongest terms.”
It added that officials’ passport information had been made public.
So-called doxxing, or revealing personal information, “is an unacceptable form of harassment” and puts people in harm’s way, the State Department said.
It did not immediately provide further details on the purported incident.
‘Seeking clarity’
South Africa “noted an unsubstantiated allegation regarding the private information” and was seeking clarity from Washington, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said later.
“We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,” it said in a statement.
The government has already said no US officials were arrested in Tuesday’s raid, which was not carried out at a diplomatic site.
The seven Kenyan nationals who were expelled had violated South African law by working without the correct permits, the foreign ministry repeated.
“The government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly attacked South Africa’s post-apartheid government over what he calls persecution of the Afrikaners, an allegation that had gained ground online with the far-right.
He has been increasingly open on his desire to rid the United States of immigrants other than white Europeans and all but ended the once-generous US refugee resettlement program, which now only accepts Afrikaners among all the world’s people.
The State Department in a separate statement Thursday confirmed it did not invite South Africa to an initial meeting on planning next year’s Group of 20 summit, the first time a member of the bloc is being excluded.
