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Fee hike: AU students protest inside FRC, force profs to join sit-in
As part of the ongoing agitation against fee hike, students turned their attention towards the faculty recruitment cell (FRC) of Allahabad University on Saturday
As part of the ongoing agitation against fee hike, students turned their attention towards the faculty recruitment cell (FRC) of Allahabad University on Saturday. Following a huge protest by students at the FRC building, police had to intervene and detain over a dozen protestors.
The protest was staged by student leaders of AU under the banner of Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti on the issue of fee hike.
While protesting, the student leaders entered the FRC building and observed a sit-in. They also forcefully made the chairman of the admission committee, prof Ashish Saxena and former faculty member of AU and present professor at Niti Aayog Chair at the department of Economics, prof Manmohan Krishna, join them in the protest. Both the present and former faculty members were made to sit with protesters before the police could intervene and force the protesters out of the building.
The police later had to use mild force and detained over a dozen protesting student leaders and took them to the Police Line.
While the protesting student leaders were being taken to Police Lines, the protesting students were not ready to enter the prison van and the police had to use force to push them inside so that they could be taken to Police Lines.
“We have detained the protestors and are talking to them as well as counselling them”, said SHO of Colonelganj police station, Ram Mohan Rai.
Earlier, on Friday night, amidst heavy deployment of police force, three prominent student leaders of the Sangharsh Samiti including Ajay Yadav ‘Samrat’ of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, Akhilesh Yadav, the state president of National Students of India (NSUI) and their associates were forcefully picked up from the AU union hall where they were observing a hunger strike as protest. These three were admitted to the Tej Bahadur Sapru (Beli) Hospital for treatment.
Student leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Ajay Yadav ‘Samrat’ said, “Now there will not be any talks with the AU administration as protesting students want rollback of fee hike.”
Proctor prof Harsh Kumar has filed another case against the student leaders at the Colonelganj police station. His complaint is on the issue of ruckus created by protestors at the North Hall on Thursday when a section of student leaders had come to hold talks with the AU administration.
“I have submitted an application and named three student leaders including Atyendra Singh, Adarsh Singh Bhadauria, Shivam Singh for the vandalism and misconduct that they indulged in on Thursday”, said prof Harsh Kumar.
Police said that a case has been registered against these three student leaders and 50 unnamed others under serious sections of IPC at Colonelganj police station.
Prof Jaya Kapoor, AU’s public relations officer (PRO), said, “Surrounding and threatening teachers of AU by the agitators is highly condemnable and is worrying. The chaos spreading on the campus creates uncertainty and apprehension among teachers and students and disrupts classes. The university has been talking about the need for a fee hike and how there will be no impact on the students already enrolled in different courses. Moreover, the option of refund by way of scholarships from various government sources to the economically weaker sections of the students is always open.”
The agitators should understand this aspect clearly and end the agitation so that the university can run smoothly and the late session can be normalised, she added.
