About 100 JNU students detained, some injured in baton-charge by police

Around 100 JNU students, including students union president Aishe Ghosh, were detained and some were injured when police allegedly baton-charged protestors as they marched towards Parliament on the first day of Winter Session on Monday demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike.

The protesting students sat at Safdurjung Tomb, demanding release of those detained and a meeting with officials of the ministry. The top brass of Delhi police tried to initiate a dialogue with them and urged them to not take law into their hands.

Traffic was affected in some parts of Lutyens' Delhi as the students marched towards Parliament. Among other intersections, vehicles were moving at a snail's pace on Nelson Mandela Marg, Aurobindo Marg and Baba Gang Nath Marg.

The entry and exit points of three Delhi Metro stations near Parliament were shut down temporarily and trains did not halt at Udyog Bhawan and Patel Chowk. The services resumed four hours later.

Students took to Twitter to share pictures of the march and of injuries they received allegedly in a lathicharge by police, as the hashtag "emergencyinJNU" trended on the microblogging site.

Top police officials were on their toes as they controlled the crowd that was chanting slogans against the force.

The students, who were holding a protest on the university's premises for the past three weeks, hit the streets carrying placards, seeking to get the attention of Parliament about their demand.

The protesters asserted that they would not relent until the government withdrew the hike.

"The HRD Ministry must announce the withdrawal of both illegal draft IHA manual and the illegal Executive Council decisions about its adoption are held in abeyance. The JNUSU, which is the elected representatives of the students, and the JNUTA must be treated as stakeholders. An explicit assurance must be given that any decision on the manual will be taken as per proper and established process," a protester said.

JNUSU vice president Saket Moon said, "The police is telling us they will take a delegation to meet HRD officials. We will decide on sending a delegation only after our fellows detained at unknown locations are released. We want representation in the HRD panel."
Aishe Gosh said they took out a peaceful march from JNU. "The police thought they would detain two office bearers and the movement would end, but every student is a leader. We are all fighting together. The Delhi Police is upset. Till the time there is not a complete rollback of the hike and of the IHA manual, we will continue our agitation."
Akshat, a JNU student said, "The students' union has not been informed by the ministry about the formation of a panel. The administration's officials and the panel should speak to the elected union to solve the issue."
Another student, who did not wish to be named, said, "We haven't seen our VC (vice-chancellor) in a long time. It's time that he comes out and talks to us. Instead of appealing to us through teachers and other methods, he should initiate a dialogue with us."