Himanshu Thakur, a 24-year-old postgraduate in History from Delhi University who has been in Gautam Buddha Nagar District Jail for about five months in connection with the Noida workers’ protest cases, scored 99.3 percentile in the UGC-NET examination in History.
Preparation Behind Bars
Thakur told interviewers that most of his time in jail was spent reading. Friends supplied study material from outside. In addition to NET preparation, he read novels, poems and stories. His sister stated that he has read at least 15 books during this period and continues to work on a research paper. He was preparing for a PhD interview at Jamia Millia Islamia at the time of his arrest.
Legal Context
Police had accused him of helping instigate and coordinate violence during the April agitation and booked him in multiple FIRs. He has secured bail in several of the cases. The result highlights continued academic effort despite the legal proceedings.
