They came in their hundreds, shouting slogans, wearing black bands, holding banners and giving speeches on a hot Tuesday afternoon.
They came in their hundreds, shouting slogans, wearing black bands, holding banners and giving speeches on a hot Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds of college students gathered at Azad Maidan to protest against the Centre’s proposed move to increase reservations in educational institutions. The protest was synchronised with similar demonstrations in other cities.
“50 per cent reservation is 100 per cent politics,” the students shouted. “This policy will decrease the merit seats. We are also having a signature campaign in our college,” said Kanchan Motwani, a student from GS Medical College. “
This issue affects the entire student community. The government needs to review the existing system and statistically prove the effects, identify problem areas and accordingly suggest reforms rather than adopt shortcut methods,” said Anisha George, an arts student from St. Xavier’s College.
Shremin Mehta, an intern from Grant Medical College, wore a black band to express his discontent. “The next step is going to be even more co-ordinated and protests will be held nation-wide. We will keep protesting till the government steps back. Black-band campaigns and signature campaigns have already started in colleges around the city. More colleges have expressed their solidarity and will soon join the fray. Our protests are non-violent and apolitical but we want all students to know that this policy will affect everybody.” He added they were in touch with colleges from Delhi and Kolkata.
Rohit Singh, a student of IIT Powai, braved the hot afternoon sun all afternoon despite his busy academic schedule. “I’ve presentations tomorrow but we are going to keep on protesting. We are looking at taking legal action.”
Networking over the internet played a major role in the protest with many students coordinating through a blog called yfemumbai.blogspot.com (DNA had reported this on Monday). “I helped in putting the blog up as we needed some sort of a common forum. We will now discuss how we can make our protest more effective,” Singh said.
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