Students protest police action on Kurukshetra Univ campus

Students took out a protest march and raised slogans against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Saturday on the campus of Kurukshetra University against the police action that injured at least 12 of them.

On Friday, police resorted to batoncharge to disperse more than 200 students sitting on a 'dharna' on the university campus demanding direct polls to elect their union leaders during which 12 students were wounded.

During the protest Saturday, students burnt an effigy of Khattar outside the university vice-chancellor's office and demanded that police cases registered against students be withdrawn.

A large number of police personnel were deployed on the campus in wake of the protest.

The students want direct elections to student unions.

Several students bodies, including the National Students' Union of India, have opposed the Haryana government's move to hold indirect polls to elect student union leaders in colleges and universities on October 17.

Through indirect polls, class representatives (CRs) will be elected in colleges and department representatives (DRs) in universities. The CRs and DRs will elect the president and other office-bearers in colleges and universities.

The elections in the state are being held after 22 years.