E-Paper
IIT students? hunger strike continues
A FRESH batch of 10 students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) sat on the relay hunger strike protesting against the proposed OBC Quota Bill likely to be tabled in Parliament in the monsoon session.
A FRESH batch of 10 students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) sat on the relay hunger strike protesting against the proposed OBC Quota Bill likely to be tabled in Parliament in the monsoon session.
Those sat on the hunger strike on the fourth day today were Vivek, Alka, Avani, Neeraj, Akhtar, Manish, Sumit, Akhilesh, Chandra Shekhar, Suyandan and Priyanka.
The chief coordinator of the Forum of Indians Against Reservation (FIR) Omendra told HT that the relay hunger strike would continue till the government considered their demands of not dividing them into caste lines.
He further said that a five-member students team had gone to contact various NGOs and other associations to seek their support in the anti-quota agitation.
Later, the students would also approach the citizens personally at their homes to mobilise their support, he added. The FIR coordinators said that in case the government did not kill the OBC Bill they would be forced to take up ‘Do-or-Die’ agitation. They would also intensify the agitation from July 29 soon after the beginning of the new academic session.
The IIT students preferred to fight for the right cause in the most democratic manner without being violent at any time. They are planning to hold street plays to highlight the adverse effects of the reservation on the society. Regarding the convocation, which was scheduled for June 5, the students have not taken any decision yet. However, they would likely to take a decision in this respect soon.
Meanwhile, parents of the students and elderly citizens continued to express their solidarity with students. Many of them reached the dharna site to boost the morale of students and also offered them assistance.
