New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University protests took a step outside the campus premises on Monday, as thousands of students, carrying placards and chanting slogans, marched towards Parliament on the first day of the Winter Session on Monday, demanding a total roll back of the hostel fee hike.
Around 100 JNU students, including students union president Aishe Ghosh, were detained and some were injured when police allegedly baton-charged protestors as they marched towards Parliament on the first day of Winter Session on Monday demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike. The police later released the 100 students, including Aishe Ghosh.
The police however, denied the other allegations levelled against them. In a statement, the Delhi Police said it did not use force against the protesting Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students.
"There was no use of water cannons, tear gas shells or lathi-charge at any stage of the protest. Women staff were deployed in adequate numbers to deal with female protesters. Apart from 10 companies of CAPF, around 800 Delhi Police personnel were deployed to handle the protest and ensure maintenance of law and order," it said.
The protesters released photos, alleging that physically-challenged students were among those injured in the lathi-charge.They were sitting peacefully at Jor Bagh, waiting for the detained JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) members to join them, the protesters said. They alleged that the police turned off all the streetlights and started lathi-charge for the third time.
HRD meeting
Office-bearers of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) claimed that they met a senior HRD Ministry official over the hostel fee hike and submitted a memorandum of demands, including for sacking the vice-chancellor.
JNUSU vice-president Saket Moon said they met GC Hosur, the joint secretary of HRD Ministry, and submitted a memorandum of demands to him.
"We met him and put forth a memorandum of demands. We demanded that the HRD panel must meet the students' union and till the time the panel is working on the matter, the fee hike must be kept in abeyance. We also demanded the sacking of the vice-chancellor," Moon said.
He said the official assured them that the panel will be meeting the students' union office-bearers on Wednesday.
JNUSU secretary Satish Chandra Yadav said the university vice chancellor must resign and said they will raise this demanded with the HRD Ministry.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Human Resource Development appointed a three-member committee to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of the JNU which has been witnessing periodic protests by students over a variety of issues.
While the committee will initiate dialogue with the students and varsity administration immediately and submit recommendations on actions to be taken, the UGC will provide required support for functioning of the committee, the HRD secretary said.
Protests rock Delhi streets
The students, who were holding a protest on the university's premises for the last three weeks, hit the streets seeking to get the attention of Parliament about their demands, asserting they will not relent until the government withdraws the hike. The protesting students sat at Safdurjung Tomb, demanding release of those detained and a meeting with officials of the ministry. The top brass of Delhi police tried to initiate a dialogue with them and urged them to not take law into their hands.
Traffic was affected in some parts of Lutyens' Delhi as the students marched towards Parliament. Among other intersections, vehicles were moving at a snail's pace on Nelson Mandela Marg, Aurobindo Marg and Baba Gang Nath Marg.
The entry and exit points of three Delhi Metro stations near Parliament were shut down temporarily and trains did not halt at Udyog Bhawan and Patel Chowk. The services resumed four hours later.
Students took to Twitter to share pictures of the march and of injuries they received allegedly in a lathicharge by police, as the hashtag "emergencyinJNU" trended on the microblogging site.
Top police officials were on their toes as they controlled the crowd that was chanting slogans against the force.
The students, who were holding a protest on the university's premises for the past three weeks, hit the streets carrying placards, seeking to get the attention of Parliament about their demand.
The protesters asserted that they would not relent until the government withdrew the hike.
Hundreds of police personnel stopped the students at the Baba Ganganath Marg, around 600 metres from the main gate of the university in south Delhi, and some of them were forcefully stopped from moving ahead.
Initially, the barricades outside the Jawaharlal Nehru University's gates were removed and the students were allowed to march. The students managed to march till Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Road, where they were stopped again as the Delhi police officials tried to strike a dialogue with them.
Aishe Gosh said they took out a peaceful march from JNU. "The police thought they would detain two office bearers and the movement would end, but every student is a leader. We are all fighting together. The Delhi Police is upset. Till the time there is not a complete rollback of the hike and of the IHA manual, we will continue our agitation."
She also asked why male police personnel were detaining women students.
The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) has expressed their concern over the current situation in the university campus.
Political reactions
The Congress hit out at the government over JNU protests, saying the present dispensation is "afraid" of any varsity which encourages free flow of thought.
Asked about the protest, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said this is a government which is afraid of the youth of India and of any university which encourages free flow of thought.
"This is the government which is scared of the people who think and who articulate their thoughts...The proposed fee hike of JNU will make JNU one of the most expensive central universities in the country and students are right in demanding the roll back," Khera said at a press conference.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury condemned the police action on protesting students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, saying it was not the right way to deal with democratic protests.
"This is Modi's emergency. The number of police personnel present at the spot of the protest is higher than what we saw during emergency," Yechury said during a press briefing here. "This is not the right way to deal with democratic protests. The Modi government is trying to provoke the students."
Yechury, who was the JNU students' union president during Emergency, said peaceful demonstration was a democratic right in a democratic society. He added that beating up students shows the "use of extreme authoritarianism on the part of the government".
(With inputs from PTI.)
