MDU, KU protesters lathicharged

OVER 2 DOZEN INJURED IN ROHTAK, FIVE GIRLS AMONG 10 ARRESTED IN KURUKSHETRA

The student body polls, to be held in Haryana universities on October 17 after over two decades, have been marred with violence even before their start as student unions opposing the ‘indirect method of elections’ clashed with police at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, on Friday, leading to lathicharge by the cops.

Students of the Kurukshetra University were also cancharged by the police when they tried to block the Kaithal-Kurukshetra road. Nine of the 11 student unions in MDU, including NSUI, SFI and INSO were sitting on a protest blocking the entrance to the university on Friday.

As police tried to clear the way to the entrance, students clashed with cops and toppled police barricades, following which the police resorted to lathicharge.

At least, two dozen students received injuries while several were detained, though they were released by the police later after students intensified protest.

Rohtak superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said, “The students attacked the police, due to which we had to use mild force for selfdefense.”

INSO president Pradeep Deswal claimed 60 of his union members were injured in the lathicharge. “The government is promoting undemocratic elections in colleges and universities, which is not acceptable. We raised our voice today and were lathicharged, but this will not stop us from continuing our battle for democratic elections,” he said.

MDU vice-chancellor (V-C) Bijender Punia met the protesting students and asked them to submit a memorandum with their demands, which he assured to forward to the higher authorities for relevant action.

The student unions are upset at the government’s decision to hold indirect elections, in which class representatives will be elected who will them collectively decide for the posts of president, vice-president etc.

In Kurukshetra also, police also canecharged the protesting members of the student unions of KU. Heavy police deployment was made near the university when the protesters, who were members of INSO, SFI and NSUI, locked the gate number-3 of the campus. But they later decided to block the Kaithal-Kurukshetra road and police used force to disburse the protesters.

When the protesters refused to lift the blockade the police canecharged them and managed to clear the road.

The police also arrested about 10 protesters, including Jasvinder Khaira of INSO, Divyansh Budhiraja of NSUI and Shahnawaj of SFI. Those arrested included five girls.

The police also booked about 150 protesters under Sections of 147, 149, 186 and 341 of the IPC.

20 STUDENTS DETAINED IN HISAR

In Hisar, 20 student leaders protesting on the campus of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJU&ST) were detained.

The protesters had gathered at the teaching block-7 from where they marched to the office of vicechancellor (V-C) Tankeshwar Kumar, demanding direct elections. When some students tried to enter the V-C office forcefully, police foiled their attempt.

The V-C pacified the students, who later reached near the main gate of the university, where they tried to block entrance.

The police detained more than 20 students, who were later released.