The All India Students' Association (AISA) is set to stage a nationwide protest on November 12. The student activists will be protesting the death of Aishwarya Reddy, a second-year student at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College, who died by suicide on November 2 allegedly because she was afraid she won't be able to pay her fees and will become a burden on her family.
The protests will be held in pockets of the national capital while those students who are still at home can participate in the protest virtually. "Aishwarya's death is not a one-off incident. The high fees have put a lot of students on the verge of suicide. Their families have no income for the past few months. The government needs to step in — both the central and the state government can help," said Ritwik Raj, a third-year student at the law department of the University of Delhi and also the Secretary of the AISA unit at DU.
The protestors will also use the hashtag #JusticeForAishwarya to post their photos with placards to show their support. "There should be no more exclusion of the marginalised sections from education. the governments need to disburse all pending scholarship. The digital divide is killing students," a statement from AISA added.
