Rally taken out to protest anti-student policies of govt.

Students form united front to counter ‘attacks’ on education

December 11, 2019 01:52 am | Updated 01:52 am IST - NEW DELHI

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on Tuesday carried out a ‘Chatra Adhikar’ rally from Mandi House to Parliament Street against the anti-student measures being taken by the Modi government and the rising unemployment in the country.

The march ended in a sabha where several Congress leaders addressed the gathering. They spoke about fee hike and privatisation of education.

The police had to disperse the protesters after some of the students tried to run towards Parliament House. The NSUI alleged that several student activists were injured while being detained. The Delhi police, however, denied that any force was used.

Several students’ unions, including the NSUI, came together on Tuesday to announce an “All India Forum to Save Public Education” and to intensify struggle for affordable education across the country.

Student leaders belonging to non-right-wing organisations from the leading universities in the city came together so that they could put up a united front against the “attacks” on higher education by the Central government.

The student leaders said that the current movement against fee hike and IHA hostel manual in JNU was not an isolated struggle and that the concern over increase in cost of higher education is shared by all the students across the country.

“Students of IIMC-Delhi, AIIMS, IITs, AUD, and Ayurveda Medical Colleges in Uttarkhand are protesting against increase in fee. The government has responded to the genuine demands of students across the country either with apathy or by suppressing agitations through force. The lathi-charge against protesting students of JNU by the Delhi police and on students of Ayurveda Medical Colleges by the Uttarkhand police shows the approach of the government,” said Mayukh Biswas, general secretary of the Students Federation of India.

‘Students threatened’

Students alleged that university administrations were not allowing student unions to be formed and were threatening students that they will lose their hostel facilities if they were seen supporting the union

“The deliberate attempt by the JNU administration to not recognise the JNUSU is case in point. Students of Jamia and other universities have constantly demanded for a recognised students’ union, but to no avail. This is to be read as a conscious attempt to destroy the democratic atmosphere on the campuses,” the students said. The new forum was born out of an urgent need for coordination between students’ movements, they said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.