The passersby on the streets of Mumbai were shocked when they saw a group of youngsters with steel bowls, begging for money, on Wednesday. They were neatly dressed, had their masks on and some of them even had saffron sashes. These were the activists associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who were protesting against the University of Mumbai for demanding the entire semester fees from its students.
Through their 'Bheekh maango andolan' (Beggary protest), the activists asked people to contribute money. "This was a way to show the university administration that they are behaving like beggars, asking students to pay their entire fees in these tough times. It is quite unfair," says an ABVP activist. He added that the university also collected examination fees from the students and did not reimburse it, despite cancelling exams. The students were allegedly also asked to pay their hostel charges, sports fees, development fees, and electricity fees.
"We were continuously talking to the university administration, but they always turned a blind eye. We have been asking them to let students pay their fees in installments. We also demanded at least a 30 per cent reduction of fees," he says. While the university has now asked students to pay their fees in installments, the ABVP claims that the public was in complete support of their campaign.
