Picture : Twitter / ANI
JNU students who were protesting against the fee hike for the past three weeks took their protests on the streets of Delhi to cause mayhem . And to highlight their woes they took out a march towards parliament and demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike.
They were however stopped by the Delhi police who baton charged them leaving reportedly some injured in the process.
The protesting students sat at the road outside Safdurjung Tomb demanding the release of those detained and a meeting with officials of the human resource development ministry. The top brass of Delhi police tried to initiate a dialogue with them and urged them to not take law into their hands.
#WATCH Delhi: Clash between Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and police, earlier today. Delhi Police PRO has said that they will inquire into lathi charge allegations made by JNU students. pic.twitter.com/5yOhuDBvdi
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2019
Traffic was affected in some parts of Lutyens’ Delhi as the students marched towards Parliament. Among other intersections, vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace on Nelson Mandela Marg, Aurobindo Marg and Baba Gang Nath Marg.
The entry and exit points of three Delhi Metro stations near Parliament were shut down temporarily and trains did not halt at Udyog Bhawan and Patel Chowk. The services resumed four hours later.
Hundreds of police personnel stopped the students at the Baba Ganganath Marg, around 600 metres from the main gate of the university in south Delhi, and some of them were forcefully stopped from moving ahead.
Initially, the barricades outside the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s gates were removed and the students were allowed to march. The students managed to march till Safdarjung Tomb near Lodhi Road, where they were stopped again as the Delhi police officials tried to strike a dialogue with them.
Police officers asked the protesters to sit in one lane on Safdurjung road and clear the rest of the passage for vehicles.
Earlier in the day, the HRD ministry appointed a three-member committee to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of the JNU which has been witnessing periodic protests by students over a variety of issues.
While the committee will initiate dialogue with the students and varsity administration immediately and submit recommendations on actions to be taken, the UGC will provide required support for functioning of the committee, the HRD secretary said.
