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Despite the brutal police action against students on April 11, protests continue in Panjab University. Today, a group of students marched to the Vice Chancellor’s office, with black
armbands, and black tape over their mouths. They were demanding the rollback of the fee hike and a withdrawal of police cases filed against the students who had been arrested last time.
Meanwhile, the six students, who were denied bail on Saturday on the grounds of a what Nishant Kaushal-the President of Panjab University Students Council-claimed was a technical glitch.
They were granted bail today. Though the respective counsels of the students had applied bail for 53 persons on Saturday, bail was only granted to 47 of the accused as the names of the
remaining six were not listed in the FIR. At the same time, security has been tightened and no one without the college identity card is not allowed to enter the campus. “Police alleges that
outsiders were there in April 11 protest and they want to monitor the students,” said Navdeep Malik, a B.farm student. Though all the classes were resumed on Monday, attendance was lower
than normal. Soon after the peace march, Vice Chancellor, Arun Kumar Grover informed the students that he will address them at 2.30 pm at University auditorium. “The meeting was called to
‘explain things’,” said Suraj Dahiya, a law student from varsity. The “university has been facing a financial crunch as we are not receiving sustainable grants from the concerned
governments,” and so Grover said he could not roll back the fee hike Dahiya explained. But the students started shouting, alleging that the VC was responsible for the entry of police into
campus and the escalating the conflict. “Students wanted him to comment on the April 11 incident. But, he chose to keep silence,” added Dahiya. Grover abruptly ended the meeting after failed
attempts to talk to the students. Winning support within and outside Although faculty in the university are hesitant to support the students’ movement openly, parallel attempts have been
made from their side. “We had written to central government a month ago appealing to regularise the grant for the university. But so far there had been no response and we gave a reminder
call yesterday. We will hold a faculty meeting today and decide further plans,” a faculty said to _Newslaundry_ on the condition of anonymity. Besides, the _Indian Express _reported that
students have been receiving support from various organisations outside the campus. The group comprised of many farmer unions and social groups called for district-level protests across
Punjab on April 19, _Express_ reported. Meanwhile, there are reports that say that there is split between various students organisations. But Kaushal denied these reports saying “ there is
no such split among the students. ABVP and NSUI were not with us since the beginning and still they are not there”. Three students, including a student out on bail, were detained by the
Chandigarh Police on Sunday from the Students’ Centre soon after the press conference held by Students for Society (SFS) and other student groups. The press conference was called to explain
the police brutality and new protest strategies. The students identified as Amandeep Kaur, a student of French; Manav, [no last name given] a student of Urdu; and Aman [no last name or
further information was given].