Allahabad University students demonstrating against the fee hike torched effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the occasion of Dussehra on Wednesday.
The group of students is protesting what they claim to be a nearly 400-fold increase in undergraduate course fees at the university. Akhilesh Yadav, vice-president of the students’ union, told reporters that on Vijayadashami, they burned the effigies of Modi, Pradhan, and vice-chancellor Sangeeta Srivastava as a symbol of protest. He also referred to them as “arrogant.” Yadav claimed that despite having been on a hunger strike for a month, no one had paid them any attention. “We burned the effigy of the prime minister, education minister, and vice-chancellor protesting the manner the fees have been increased,” said Manish Kumar, secretary of the All India Students’ Association’s Allahabad University chapter.
However, due to the Dussehra vacation, no students were present besides those who were acting out on campus. After talks with the university administration on Tuesday fell through, the protesting students promised to intensify their agitation. Yadav had declared that the two and a half hour meeting between the university administration and the students’ union on the fee increase was a “total failure” following the discussions.
