The JNU students' march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan turned violent as students were getting lathi-charged by the Delhi police. The JNU Students' Union alleges that at least 30 to 40 students were injured in the lathi-charge.
"The police charged upon the students without any provocation even though the march was peaceful," says Satish Yadav, General Secretary, JNUSU. However, he says that despite the incident, the students are continuing the 'Chatra Padayatra' (long march). The lathi-charge occurred near Delhi's Bhikaji Cama Place Metro station.
"Around four of the students were severely injured in the lathi-charge. Some have fractured their legs too," says Vishnu Prasad, a JNUSU councillor. "There are chances that the police will charge upon us again. But we are going forward," he says.
The march was part of the JNU students' ongoing protest against the proposed hostel fee hike in the university. Even though the march was supposed to begin at 10 am on Monday, the police had put barricades and closed all the university gates. The march finally began at 2 pm.
Previously, the JNU students had marched to the parliament, demanding a complete rollback of the hiked hostel fees, on November 19. That march too had turned violent, after the police lathi-charged the protesting students at night. Over 30 students were severely injured. The students had decided to conduct the 'Chatra Padayatra' after the University General Body Meeting on December 5.
