Jharkhand unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), marched towards the chief minister’s residence here on Saturday to express solidarity with students protesting alleged irregularities in recruitment exams, but police stopped them midway.
The march began at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, less than a kilometre from the CM residence, but the ABVP members were stopped by the police, who had barricaded the road well in advance. Police detained around a dozen protesters after they scuffled with them.
“ABVP members scuffled with the police and tried to break through barricades near the chief minister’s residence. Eight to ten members have been detained and will be taken to Lalpur police station,” a police officer said.
Among those detained were ABVP office-bearers Pradeep Shekhawat, Pashupatinath Upmanyu and Prakash Tuti.
“For over two weeks, students and job aspirants have been holding protests at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium here. They are demanding the cancellation of the 14th JPSC examination, but the state government is not considering their demands. We have organised this march to show solidarity with the agitators,” an ABVP leader said.
The ABVP workers also condemned the arrest of its karyakartas during a peaceful march. “Police forcibly detained dozens of karyakartas, including ABVP Jharkhand State Secretary Prakash Tuti, Mahanagar Secretary Tushar Dubey, Harsh Yadav, Pintu Munda, Puneet and Ujjwal Kumar. ABVP said instead of addressing serious concerns related to the future of thousands of students, the government chose to suppress a peaceful democratic movement through force.
{{/usCountry}}The ABVP workers also condemned the arrest of its karyakartas during a peaceful march. “Police forcibly detained dozens of karyakartas, including ABVP Jharkhand State Secretary Prakash Tuti, Mahanagar Secretary Tushar Dubey, Harsh Yadav, Pintu Munda, Puneet and Ujjwal Kumar. ABVP said instead of addressing serious concerns related to the future of thousands of students, the government chose to suppress a peaceful democratic movement through force.
{{/usCountry}}It is noteworthy that the ABVP is the only major student organisation in the state that has not been engaged in talks with the government. The agitation over alleged irregularities in recruitment exams in Jharkhand entered its 15th day on Saturday after talks between the state government and the protesters failed to break the deadlock.