JNU student faints during hunger strike

A JNU student, on hunger strike for the last one week, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after he collapsed during a slogan shouting duel with the rival student parties on Monday.

Saurabh Sharma, a former Joint Secretary of JNU Students Union, fell while shouting slogans against members of rival parties outside School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

It was where a meeting was being held by the Standing Committee to decide upon the UGC guidelines on admissions for M.Phil. and P.hd.

"Students from left parties were shouting slogans outside the hall where Standing Committee on Admission was holding a meeting and they started hurling abuses at ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad). Saurabh, who was already weak with chronic hunger, responded to them by shouting back but fainted," Alok Singh, State General Secretary, ABVP, told IANS.

He was taken to AIIMS where his friends were told that he, Sharma, fainted because of low blood pressure and high level of ketone. His condition is stable now.

Sharma is on a hunger strike since January 24 against the University Grants Commission's May 2016 notification, which makes the written test to research courses as only "qualifying" and focuses on the interview to select the candidates.

--IANS

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