Anger & anarchy

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11

On the call of the bandh against fee hike at Panjab University by the joint student action committee, including the Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU), Students’ Organisation of India (SOI) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), students swung into action at 9 am. However, they faced some resistance at English, laws and chemical engineering departments.

Members of the Students for Society (SFS) went from department to department, asking students to join the protest. The main library and the Student Centre were also shut. While police personnel were all geared up to stall the movement of protesters towards the Vice-Chancellor’s, students managed to dodge the police and the university authorities and entered the arena outside the VC’s office around 10.30 am.

Hundreds of students gathered outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office and started raising slogans against him, the MHRD, UGC, and the Modi government. 

Student leaders demanded a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor. On being informed that the VC was not in town, the students started demanding a meeting with the second-in-command.

Angered by it, the students attempted to break the police cordon. When the police failed to stop the protesters, they used water cannons, which in turn led to stone pelting. Windowpanes of the police vehicle were smashed. Several students and cops were injured. Madhu, a student, fell unconscious.

After getting information about the protesters getting violent, UT SSP Eish Singhal reached the PU campus. On witnessing the situation getting tensed, the SSP directed the DSPs of both south and east divisions, along with the SHOs, to reach the spot. Around 500 policemen were deployed.

The situation was briefly brought under control when student leaders asked the protesters not to throw stones at the police. The protestors complied and sat down. They demanded an ambulance for the injured. They also continued to demand a meeting with the university authorities. Miffed at the fact that their demands did not evoke any response from the authorities, the students charged again. This time, along with water cannons, the police resorted to lathicharge. Stones, bricks, flower pots, footwear, canes and other objects in sight were hurled at police personnel. The police fired tear gas shells, one of which landed in a classroom. The injured students were taken away in an ambulance. 

The protesters fled immediately but were chased by the police. A student of chemical engineering, Ankush Monga, rued that he was not even part of the protest but was roughed up by the cops. “I have sustained a head injury for no fault of mine,” he told mediapersons. 

Some students were nabbed, many others were assaulted. Meanwhile, police personnel gheraoed the gurdwara on the PU campus where about 38 students had taken shelter. However, Prof Amrik Singh Ahluwalia, chief of gurdwara management, did not allow the police to enter it. 

Meanwhile, the students inside the gurdwara informed their lawyers, who immediately rushed to the spot to hold a meeting with the former. After about 15 minutes, the lawyers informed the police that the students were ready to surrender, provided they were given water and allowed to use washroom. After a heated exchange of words between the lawyers and the police, all 38 students holed up inside the gurdwara courted arrest.

Amrik Singh Ahluwalia, president of the PU gurdwara management, said, “Those inside the gurdwara are children, not terrorists. We can’t ask them to come out. At the same time, we don’t want history be repeated. So, we asked the police to wait and watch.  

Meanwhile, some onlookers objected to SSP Eish Singhal wearing shoes outside the sanctum sanctorum of the gurdwara. Meanwhile, local MP Kirron Kher, BJP leader Sat Pal Jain and city BJP president Sanjay Tandon refused to comment on the issue. 

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TIMELINE

• 9 am Protesters started moving from department to department, asking students to join the protest
• 9.30 am Main library and students’ centre shut
• 10.30 AM Students managed to dodge the police and university authorities and entered the arena outside the VC office
• 11.00 am More students, mainly from SOI joined the protest
• 11.40 am Students demand meeting with senators/ PU authorities
• 12 noon Protestors charge at the police
• 12.05 pm Students start throwing stones; water cannons used
• 12.10 pm Police vehicle with water cannon mounted atop moved closer to the VC’s office
• 12.25 pm Protesters charge for second time; tear gas used, students lathicharge
• 1.00 pm Students gather near the English department, stopping vehicles from going out
• 1.18 pm Cops gherao Boys’ Hostel No. 3
• 1.20 pm Four girls rounded up
• 1.35 pm Four boys rounded up from hostel
• 1.40 pm Cops gherao gurdwara
• 2.18 pm SSP visited gurdwara, asked for meeting with students
• 2.54 pm First student taken into custody from the gurdwara
• 3.30 pm Lawyers reach
• 3.56 pm Students start courting arrest
• 4.30 pm PU CSO, Registrar, senators reach the gurdwara

1,100% fee hike for some courses 

The fee hike, set to come into effect from the next academic session is said to be necessitated by a financial crisis being faced by Panjab University, which has led to up to 1,100 per cent increase in fee of some courses. The Union Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) have been pressing Panjab University authorities to increase income from internal resources in order to raise funds.

"Some unidentified students pushed the SHO and the DSP and started pelting stones. I tried to stop them but the situation got out of control. Some of the students have been arrested. I, along with the chief security officer and senior leaders, am trying to help innocent people."— Nishant Kaushal, president, Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC)