Violent clashes broke out between police and students protesting grievances including rising fees and housing costs in Delhi on Monday, with authorities at one point deploying water cannons.
Authorities attempted to put the All India Council of Technical Education building on lockdown as hundreds of students from nearby Jawaharlal Nehru University turned out to protest an event there featuring Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.
Students forced their way through the barricades, preventing the minister from leaving the site for hours. Footage from the scene shows police officers striking students after they pushed through barriers.
#WATCH Delhi: A scuffle between the police and protesting students breaks out, as the protest organised by Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) over different issues including fee hike, continues outside the university campus. pic.twitter.com/yOlezY9Rjx
Thousands of #JNU students marched today to AICTE where JNU VC had organised the 3rd JNU convocation. Students are protesting against the massive fee hike in JNU. Instead of addressing students, coward JNU VC through Delhi Police has used water-cannon on the protesting students. pic.twitter.com/Z0tLGa2vpo
The students have been protesting since late last month after changes were announced to their hostel accommodation, including higher fees. Students say the new regulations also mean restricting their movement inside the college campus, and will impinge their freedom of expression as being involved in protests could see them kicked out of their rooms.
While many Indians wrote online of their dismay over what they saw as a heavy-handed approach by police, some were less sympathetic towards the students, saying they live so cheaply in high-standard housing that they really shouldn’t complain.
“No wonder they don’t want to graduate,” one critic wrote.
