Mumbai: Hundreds of students staged a protest near the Jawaharlal Nehru University here on Monday against the administration’s “anti-student” policy.
The students wanted to march towards the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), where Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was addressing the convocation of the university in an auditorium.
The gates of AICTE, about 3 km from JNU, were closed and security personnel were stationed inside and outside the campus in view of the protests that started in the morning.
An official said barricades were erected outside the north and west gates of the JNU campus, as well as barricading between AICTE auditorium and JNU on the Baba Balaknath road near the traffic signal, under the flyover and near the venue .
But the students broke these hurdles and headed towards the venue at around 11.30 am. Police said some of the protesters have been detained.
Students were shouting slogans like “Delhi Police Go Back” with placards in hand and calling Vice-Chancellor M Jagdish Kumar a “thief”.
Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal could not come out of the venue.
An official said, “JNUSU President Aisha Ghosh and Vice President Saket Moon were asked to talk to the students to make way for HRD minister. Police requested the protesters to move out of the gate, but they refused.
“JNUSU officials met Pokhriyal who assured them that their demands would be met.
They, however, were not able to complete the V-C. The protesters were also raising slogans of “We want c.”
The students wanted to meet the Vice-Chancellor and demand the withdrawal of the draft Hostel Manual, which they claimed contained provisions for fee hikes, dress codes and curfew times.
The demonstration is part of the movement against hostel manuals and various other issues such as the ban on entry into Parthasarathy Rocks, an attempt to close the students’ union office, according to the students.
The student union has been on strike against the draft hostel manual, which was approved by the Inter-Hall administration. He has said that the hostel manual will be withdrawn if the strike does not end.
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