New Delhi: The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday staged a protest demanding scrapping of the high-power committee set up by the HRD ministry following the agitation by JNU students against hostel fee hike.
Several students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia, under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Vidharthi Parsihad (ABVP), who were protesting against JNU hostel fee hike, were stopped by the police at Parliament Street.
However, the scuffle between Delhi Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) ensued after the protesting students climbed over the barricades. Around 160 students including Delhi University Students’ Union president Akshit Dhaiya, and ABVP’s state secretary Siddharth Yadav were detained by the police on Parliament Street.
According to Ashutosh Singh, a member of ABVP, the students began their protest march from Mandi House. “They were marching towards the office of human resource development (HRD) minister in Shastri Bhawan but were stopped midway,” said Singh.
The ABVP is demanding scrapping of the high-power committee set up by the HRD ministry following the agitation by JNU students against hostel fee hike. “All we want is a complete rollback of fees hike. The temporary relief by administration is just a lollipop,” said Rajiv Mittal, a protester.
“Besides, the rollback of hostel fee hike, we also want that some of the other issues pertaining to dress code, time restrictions on library hours must also be looked into,” said another protester.
Gajender, a PhD scholar said: “We have raised objections to certain rules imposed by the administration. Earlier we didn’t have to pay for electricity, water and sanitation but with this new rule, we will have to end up spending more money.”
