‘Soros agent’, ‘Pakistani’? Class 12 student gets online hate for calling out CBSE over answer sheet mismatch | WION Decodes
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Soros agent’, ‘Pakistani’? Class 12 student gets online hate for calling out CBSE over answer sheet mismatch | WION Decodes")
Class 12 student gets hate on internet Photograph: (X, WION)
Delhi student Vedant Shrivastava faced intense online abuse and xenophobic labelling after exposing a CBSE digital marking mix-up, drawing massive public and political support before receiving an official apology.
A Class 12 student from Delhi who raised concerns over an apparent mix-up in his Physics board exam answer sheet found himself at the centre of a social media storm, drawing abuse and being labelled “Pakistani” after highlighting discrepancies in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. The controversy erupted amid wider criticism of the OSM-based evaluation process introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education following the declaration of Class 12 board examination results earlier this month.
Ever since CBSE announced the Class 12 results on May 13, several students have raised concerns over the new digital evaluation system. The overall Class 12 pass percentage dropped by 3.19 percentage points to 85.20 per cent this year, adding to scrutiny over the assessment process. After the criticism, CBSE opened a portal allowing students to access scanned copies of their evaluated answer sheets. However, complaints persisted, with some students alleging that the uploaded answer books did not match their handwriting, triggering fears of possible answer sheet mismatches under the OSM system.
How the Vedant Shrivastava case unfolded
The issue gained traction after student Vedant Shrivastava requested scanned copies of his answer sheets on May 19, claiming he had received unexpectedly low marks in Physics. When he received the documents on May 23, he alleged that the Physics answer sheet attached to his roll number did not belong to him. To support his claim, Vedant shared screenshots on X comparing handwriting from his English and Computer Science papers with the handwriting seen in the Physics script.
“I studied for an entire year. I sacrificed sleep, peace of mind, outings, everything for these exams. And now I don’t even know whether my actual Physics paper was checked. Do students really deserve this?” he wrote on X. The post quickly went viral, crossing 3.2 million views by Monday evening and sparking widespread debate online.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
Trolling and ‘Pakistani’ remarks
As the issue gained traction, Vedant became the target of online trolling and abusive comments. Several social media users accused him of attempting to tarnish CBSE’s image and questioned why his X profile location displayed “South Asia”. Some users branded him “anti-national”, while others called him “Pakistani”.
Among those who initially made such remarks was Ashok Shrivastav, a journalist associated with Doordarshan News. He later apologised after criticism, but the comments triggered further backlash online.
Political and public support for the student
The student later received support from several public figures and social media groups, including Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. “A 17-year-old boy, whose answer sheet was wrongly evaluated, turned to social media in hope of justice. But instead of help, he got abuse - BJP's IT cell branded him an ‘Anti-National’, called him a ‘Soros agent’, a part of the ‘Deep State’,” Gandhi wrote on X.
Vedant also received support from the youth-led online collective “Cockroach Janta Party”, currently operating under the name “Cockroach is Back” after its original account was reportedly withheld on X. Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, also backed the student publicly. In a post on X, the group said: “We stand with Vedant. All he has done is expose the mismanagement in #CBSE exams. Education Minister must resign!”
CBSE later apologised to Vedant over the answer sheet mix-up, though the controversy has continued to fuel broader questions about the reliability and transparency of the board’s OSM evaluation system.
