A discussion at the boys’ hostel of a medical college in the Capital was the starting point of the anti-quota agitation
A discussion at the boys’ hostel of a medical college in the capital was the starting point of the anti-quota agitation
NEW DELHI: The anti-quota movement that has spread across the nation was conceptualised by eleven students in the guest room of the boys' hostel at the University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi. Anirudh Lochan, a PG student at UCMS had read about the reservation policy and felt quite strongly about it. He was looking for like-minded people to have a simple debate with. What he found instead was the base of what is now known as Youth for Equality. "Initially we had thought to name ourselves the doctors of merit. Then we felt we might exclude others and came up with Youth for Equality."
So off they went to approach Lady Hardinge, AIIMS, Safdarjung and MAMC. And the result, "We realised if we wanted to protest, we easily had 1000 people with us," says Lochan.
But it was April 26, the day the students decided to go to Arjun Singh's house and hand him a memorandum, that changed the course of the agitation. They were waylaid by the police and treated to a barrage of water cannons and tear gas. After that there was no stopping the students. What the cops did to the students gave them an added impetus. "Suddenly there were calls from all parts of the country wanting to support us. The movement turned pan Indian that day," says Narangi.
Then on May 12, medicos were again treated to water cannons and a mass arrest in the Capital. In Mumbai too a day later, medicos were beaten mercilessly on the streets. After seeing all this, the resident doctors decided to stand with the students and go on strike. On May 14, the hunger strike at AIIMS had begun.
"At this point, a lot of volunteers from all walks of life approached us directly. Influential groups also came forward in our support and the biggest surprise was the common man. Reservations is a topic that affects almost everybody, and since doctors who are perceived as genuine, were at the forefront, people began to come up and support us from all walks of life," says Dr Safal, a resident doctor at AIIMS.
At parallel OPDs, the medicines were written on the back of pamphlets which gave information against reservation. Students went to all the major commercial and shopping hubs of the city, metros and even individual houses to distribute pamphlets and give information.
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