Students protest sealing of Lal Baradari, demand transparency from LU

The march followed a 48-hour ultimatum issued by students to the university administration on February 23, demanding transparency over the sealing. The administration did not respond.

A coalition of student, labour and civil society groups marched from Parivartan Chowk toward the district magistrate’s office on Thursday, demanding answers over the sealing of Lal Baradari on the Lucknow University (LU) campus. Police stopped the march before it reached its destination.

Student, labour and civil society groups marched from Parivartan Chowk toward the district magistrate’s office on Thursday (Mushtaq Ali/HT)

The protest brought together members of All India Students Association (AISA), All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Birsa Ambedkar Phule Student’s Association (BAPSA), Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation (CPI(ML)L), Jan Sanskriti Manch, RYA, Rihai Manch, Socialist Party and Nationalist Youth Party.

The march followed a 48-hour ultimatum issued by students to the university administration on February 23, demanding transparency over the sealing. The administration did not respond.

A memorandum addressed to Anandiben Patel, the governor and LU chancellor, submitted through district magistrate Vishak G, raised constitutional concerns over the sealing. It demanded the public release of the executive order behind the sealing, an independent structural technical inspection report, and a detailed account of the ₹5 crore sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) scheme.

AISA UP President Manish Kumar said the administration could produce a police force but not a written order, calling opacity the real problem. LU student Ahmad Raza Khan said students had only asked to see the order and inspection report, but were treated like offenders.