Zambia's Own Panshul Bansal? Why Our Youth Must Choose Books Over Protests
By Mwansa Chisanga
While Indian students burn tyres and block roads over a leaked exam paper, one young man chose a different path. He studied harder. And he won. This is a lesson Zambia needs to hear, loud and clear.
Panshul Bansal, who bagged All India Rank 2 in the NEET-UG 2026 medical entrance exam, has a simple message for his protesting peers: 'Why protest when you can study?' It is a message that should resonate from Lusaka to Livingstone.
Bansal's story is not just about one boy's success. It is about the power of discipline over drama. When the original exam was scrapped due to a paper leak, thousands of students took to the streets. They demanded the Education Minister's head. They shouted. They marched. Bansal? He went home and opened his books.
His score jumped from 706 to 715 in the re-examination. That is what happens when you channel anger into ambition instead of joining the mob.
Why Zambia Should Pay Attention
Here in Zambia, we have our own problems. Exam leaks. Corruption in the education system. Students who feel cheated. But too often, our first instinct is to point fingers, to blame the government, to demand resignations. We forget the one thing we can control: our own effort.
Bansal told NDTV he felt 'despair and sadness' when the first exam was cancelled. But he did not let that feeling consume him. 'After one or two hours, I looked at it from a positive perspective and got motivated,' he said.
Two hours. That is all it took for him to turn disappointment into determination. How many of our young people waste weeks, months, even years nursing grievances instead of sharpening their skills?
The Foreign Influence Trap
Let us be honest. The protests in India are being fueled by outside forces. Western NGOs, foreign-funded activists, and opposition politicians who care more about power than progress. They want to destabilise. They want chaos. And they use young people as pawns.
Zambia must not fall into the same trap. Our students must learn from Bansal. When the system fails you, do not let outsiders use your anger for their agenda. Pick up a book. Master your craft. Show them that a Zambian can rise above the noise.
Bansal did not change his routine. He stuck to his schedule. He trusted his preparation. 'I just felt that in the last one-and-a-half months I had to give everything I could and leave the rest to God,' he said.
That is the spirit of a true patriot. Not a protester. A builder.
Our Resources, Our Future
We have seen what happens when foreign interests meddle in our affairs. They take our copper, our cobalt, our land. They leave us with broken promises and divided communities. The same forces are now trying to divide our youth.
But Zambia's future will not be built on the streets. It will be built in classrooms, laboratories, and workshops. It will be built by young men and women who refuse to be pawns in someone else's game.
Bansal declined to comment on the protests or the demand for the Education Minister's resignation. He knows his job is to study, not to be a political tool. Our students should take note.
The Bottom Line for Zambian Youth
To every young Zambian feeling angry about exam leaks, about corruption, about a system that sometimes feels rigged: Do not let that anger consume you. Use it. Transform it into fuel for your own success.
Bansal's story proves that the best revenge is excellence. While others protest, you prepare. While others shout, you study. While others demand change from outside, you become the change from within.
That is how we build a sovereign, self-reliant Zambia. One student at a time. One exam at a time. One victory at a time.
Zed Nation, the choice is yours. Will you be a protester or a producer? The answer starts with what you do tomorrow morning.
Mwansa Chisanga writes for Zed Nation. Follow him for more straight talk on what matters to Zambians.