Bawal college students to shift dharna to Hisar; exams boycott continues

The College of Agriculture in Bawal (Rewari), a constituent of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, continued to witness a boycott of examinations with only 15 out of 112 students appearing for their exams on Friday.

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In a new development, students staging dharna at Bawal in solidarity with HAU students have decided to move their protest to Hisar to strengthen the ongoing agitation there. They also aim to ensure the success of the proposed Students’ Mahapanchayat scheduled for June 24.

The decision was made during a students’ meeting held on the Bawal college campus today.

“We have unanimously decided to intensify the agitation in Hisar. All students protesting in Bawal will shift there from Saturday and participate in large numbers in the Students’ Mahapanchayat on June 24. The move has been coordinated with the protesting students already in Hisar,” Sumit, one of the protesters, told The Tribune.

He added that first and second-year students, who had returned home after their exams, would also join the agitation directly in Hisar. Over 150 students had been protesting in Bawal for several days, he claimed.

Another student, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that concentrating the protest at a single location would increase its impact and put more pressure on the state government to meet their demands.

“Many students are under pressure from their families to appear in exams, but they have chosen to stand firmly with the HAU protest. Notably, girl students are also participating in full strength,” he added.

Naresh Kaushik, Principal of Agriculture College, Bawal, said the number of students attending exams was gradually increasing, although most of them were still boycotting the exams.

“On Friday, five out of 60 students appeared in the first shift and 10 out of 52 in the second. We expect the number to rise in the coming days,” Kaushik added.

Meanwhile, the AIIMS Sangharsh Samiti, Manethi, has extended full support to the students’ protest, urging the government to meet their demands and remove the Vice-Chancellor of HAU Hisar. A delegation of the samiti joined the dharna at Bawal.

Rajender Singh, speaking on behalf of the samiti on the occasion, criticised the government for reducing stipends, cutting the number of eligible students and adding new conditions stating that the moves were intended to deprive students of education.

He called the New Education Policy “anti-people and profit-driven” and encouraged students to continue their democratic struggle stating, “Your fight is heading towards victory.”