VIDEO: JNU students protest continues, demand rollback of fee hike

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students Union on Monday said that they will continue the protest until the demands of rollback of fee hikes and release of detained students are accepted.

JNUSU Vice President Saket Moon, who was part of a group protesting near Jor Bagh metro station here said: "We will hold our protest here only. The barricading and the number of police and CRPF cannot be outnumbered. But we will hold this ground until our demands." Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik was also present at the protest site.

Moon said that the Delhi Police Commissioner has promised the students union that he will arrange a meeting of the agitating students with the Human Resource Development Ministry.

He also demanded release of detained students and also rollback of the entire fee hike.

JNUSU also said that thousands of JNU students have been brutally attacked by the police and the Central Reserve Police Force.

In a statement, the students union claimed that the police used brutal force to disrupt the "peaceful" march and several students have been injured. Many students, including the office bearers, have been detained.

Police wield their batons against students  during a protest against a proposed fee hike in New Delhi on Monday.   Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has also notified a High Power Committee to restore the normal functioning of JNU through dialogue with the stakeholders.

The students union demanded to withdraw the draft manual to increase hostel fees and treat the JNUSU, the elected representatives of the students, and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) as stakeholders.

"The established process in JNU cannot and must not be short-circuited in the name of any high-powered committee decisions. The JNUSU, as the elected representative of the students, is part of this established process and any intervention on the JNU issue must explicitly invite the active participation of JNUSU. This high powered committee must not set a precedent but be corrective," the students union said.     

"The MHRD should hold the JNU Vice-Chancellor and his administration accountable as he is responsible for the disruption in the normal functioning of the university. The terms of reference of the MHRD committee cannot be merely to advise the university administration."

The JNUSU reiterated its demand that the JNU Vice-Chancellor must be removed for his complete "mismanagement" of the university.

Indo-Asian News Service