Members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who were protesting against JNU hostel fee hike were stopped by the police at Parliament Street on Thursday.
The students' organisation began their protest march from Mandi House. They were marching towards the office of HRD Ministry in Shastri Bhawan but were stopped midway.
The ABVP is demanding scrapping of the high-power committee set up by the HRD Ministry following the agitation by JNU students against hostel fee hike.
"All we want is a complete rollback of fees hike. The temporary relief by the administration is just a lollipop," said Rajiv Mittal, a protestor echoing the stance of the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU).
"Besides, the rollback of hostel fee hike, we also want that some of the other issues pertaining to dress code, time restrictions on library hours must also be looked into," said Krishna, another protestor.
Gajender, a PHD scholar said "We have raised objections to certain rules imposed by the administration in the hostel manual. Earlier we didn't have to pay for electricity, water and sanitation but with this new rule, we will have to end up spending more money."
The Shiv Sena on Thursday targeted the Modi government over Delhi police's "inhuman" lathicharge on JNU students, including those challenged visually, during a protest against hostel fee hike, saying no government should run amok in this manner.
The Sena said the ruling BJP would have created a ruckus in Parliament had such action against students been taken during the Grand Old Party's rule.
As Delhi is a Union territory, the responsibility to maintain law and order rests with the Centre, it said.
JNU students have been agitating against hostel fee hike for over three weeks. The protests have largely been led by JNUSU, which is headed by four Left organisations — Students’ Federation of India, Democratic Students’ Federation, All India Students’ Association and All India Students’ Federation.
The JNUSU has blamed the Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar for the continuance of the crisis in the university and urged the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to remove him from his post.
Delhi University students on Wednesday protested against the alleged police lathicharge on their JNU counterparts during a demonstration over hostel fee hike. The Delhi Police has denied lathicharging students.
(With inputs from PTI)
