On Saturday, three UPSC aspirants, Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nevin Dalwin, died by drowning in the flooded basement of a Delhi-based coaching institute. Actor Abhilash Thapliyal, who played a student preparing for the civil services exams in the web show Aspirants, laments the incident, commenting on how no one took the blame for the loss of young lives.

“Teen bachche mare hain, and the sad part is, people are simply politicising it. I feel, laash ka dher dekh ke do hi log fayda utha sakte hain, giddh (vultures) aur neta (politician). All that our system is doing is passing the blame. Before this, a kid passed away due to electrocution. So, who is safe in our country?” the 36-year-old says.

The actor agrees that such an incident highlights the lack of amenities in our country for students. “We should feel ashamed as a system that we weren’t able to provide them (the students) with facilities when they needed them. We celebrate and glorify struggle, and it is quite sad,” he adds.