UPSC protesters stay put, demand apology

Protests against the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) continued on Thursday as aspirants and students from JNU, Delhi University and Jamia Millia demonstrated against the police crackdown on agitators in Mukherjee Nagar and Nehru Nagar on Wednesday night.

Protests against the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) continued on Thursday as aspirants and students from JNU, Delhi University and Jamia Millia demonstrated against the police crackdown on agitators in Mukherjee Nagar and Nehru Nagar on Wednesday night.

The protesters burnt effigies of the Central government and Delhi Police at Jantar Mantar.

“We demand an unconditional apology from the home ministry for the violence against students and protesters on Wednesday. The new government’s terror tactics and doublespeak cannot dilute the spirit of the movement against the discriminatory CSAT,” said Anubhuti, vice president, JNU Students’ Union.

A number of students were injured in the lathicharge after protesters pelted stones at the cops and indulged in arson.

“The protest against CSAT is a protest against systemic exclusion of people from non-English and humanities background. Wrong translation is an important issue indeed, but the main point being raised here is whether students trained in several of the regional languages of the country should be treated unequally vis-s-vis those who could avail of English medium education,” said Sucheta De, a JNU student.

The protesters condemned the way the police handled the matter.

“The police crackdown is shocking and condemnable. We were chased and beaten up,” a protester said.

The protesters demanded that government should scrap CSAT immediately.

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also condemned the violence.