All-party protest led by students at Panjab University (PU) demanding removal of excessive police deployment on campus and nakas continued to keep the road barricaded in front of PU Administration Block for over 24 hours, till Thursday night. Students braved the rain and continued the protest while filing this report. Police said they are likely to get the protest lifted by Friday, owing to the Independence Day celebrations.
However, the police deployment decreased around the protest on Thursday morning, as parts of the protesting group went on to do separate activities planned for the day. Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) carried out a tiranga rally from Chemistry canteen to Students Centre in the afternoon while another tiranga rally was carried out by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the evening.
A different protest was also held by the Student Front party in front of the vice-chancellor’s office in the afternoon, with police and campus security deployed. The admin block protest also took a patriotic turn, as students held flags along with their placards, claiming they want “Azaadi” from “oppressive policies of PU”.
Meanwhile, dean students welfare (DSW) held a meeting with PU security staff on Thursday morning. While students had been invited to join at 11.30 am, they boycotted the call, alleging they were not properly invited and they would rather hold the meeting at the protest site. DSW Amit Chauhan said that the students have been informed that the police nakas will stay. “The police deployment is for their safety and they had agreed to it in the meeting held with the UT senior superintendent of police (SSP) on Monday. We have urged the students to clear the road, as the police need to maintain security for the Independence Day event on Friday.”
On Thursday evening, students called an all-party meeting at the dharna spot. Election in charge of Students Organisation of India (SOI) Harkamal Singh Bhuregill during the meeting said, “It is unfortunate that the authorities are enforcing this on us. We will hold a protest march on Thursday night and will also plan a protest for Friday”. He also questioned the absence of the immediate past president of Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) Anurag Dalal in the protest and alleged that Dalal is complicit with the authorities. PU officials said that they have asked the police to take over if the situation grows out of control.
{{/usCountry}}On Thursday evening, students called an all-party meeting at the dharna spot. Election in charge of Students Organisation of India (SOI) Harkamal Singh Bhuregill during the meeting said, “It is unfortunate that the authorities are enforcing this on us. We will hold a protest march on Thursday night and will also plan a protest for Friday”. He also questioned the absence of the immediate past president of Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) Anurag Dalal in the protest and alleged that Dalal is complicit with the authorities. PU officials said that they have asked the police to take over if the situation grows out of control.
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