Students Intensify their Stir; Disaster Averted
Patna: Aug. 6, 2008
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Students Intensify their Stir
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Photo by Anupam Singh |
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Students with affiliation to the All India Students Federation (AISF) in Patna on Wednesday stepped up their agitation against the Nitish government for failing to bring an end to the ongoing strike by the employees of Bihar universities by blocking railway tracks disrupting traffic for over two hours.
Hundreds of students, some real while some posing as one, sat on the railway tracks at Rajendra Nagar Terminal forcing Himgiri Express and Jha Jha Passenger train to remain stranded at the station for hour. Other trains at Patna Junction were also affected by the latest disruptive acts by the students.
Intoxicated by their new-found political muscle power, the unruly protestors narrowly escaped what could have been a repeat of last Monday disaster in Danapur when eight people died after being hit by the Jansadharan Express.
As reported, the protestors sitting on the track chanting anti-government slogans, almost ignored the approaching Kurla Express that was only few meters away from mowing them down.
Thanks to the vigil law-enforcement officials, the protestors were pushed away from the track thus averting what could have been yet another political scandal in the state.
Nearly two dozen students were detained by the police and later freed.
Meanwhile, members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) students' wing sat on a hunger strike outside the Patna University office building demanding an end to the two months old strike by the university employees.
To bolster their morale, RJD senior party leaders including Shyam Rajak, Ram Kripal Yadav, and Abdul Bari Siddiqui met with the students on hunger strike and appealed them to be not sidetracked by the Nitish government's political maneuvering.
As if there was not enough drama for one day, student activists with allegiance to the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad', in protest against police assault on students outside the home of Education Minister Hari Narayan Singh on Tuesday, observed 'Black Day' demanding removal of the minister and end to the university employees' strike.
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