Students across country come together in solidarity

If you happened to enter the roads leading to the Parliament Street in the Capital on Tuesday, it looked like more cops had gathered for an event rather than Jignesh Mevani's 'Yuva Hunkar Rally'. Although emotions were running high among the crowd at the rally, but the numbers dampened the mood.

Till 11 am, there was no sign of the yuva's who were supposed to attend the rally. Even though the stage was all set in the morning but it was just a handful of people waiting for newly-elected Gujarat MLA Mevani to arrive. Until then, it was only the media persons and the police who had occupied the area.

By 1 pm, Mevani had arrived making the supporters, who had gathered there, to utilise their energy in shouting slogans and welcoming him. By now the stage was fully occupied with all the youth leaders, including Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid. Students from various universities across the country had also gathered to show their support for the rally.

Although one could see youngsters in the rally sitting and waiting at the venue, however, most of the chairs were occupied by middle-aged people. It more or less seemed that the yuva rally had less of yuva participating in it.

When some of the speakers and organisers were asked the reason for the low turnout, they attributed it to the fact that the police and media had earlier stated there was no permission given and hence the people did not turn up. They also stated that the police did not allow the buses with supporters to enter the area.

The rally also witnessed a minor disruption due to an audio glitch, however, the speakers went ahead without using the mike to convey their message.