Police stop JNU students from marching towards Rashtrapati Bhavan

Some students were injured when they were roughed up while the cops put them in buses and autorickshaws. Pic/PTI

New Delhi: JNU students protesting the violence on the university campus tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday after a failed meeting with HRD ministry officials, but were stopped and later detained by police with some of them receiving injuries as they were roughed up when the cops put them in buses and autorickshaws.

The scene unfolded with JNU students' union president Aishe Ghosh giving a call for a march towards the President of India's residence when the meeting between a delegation of students and teachers unions, and the Human Resource Development Ministry did not turn out to be satisfactory.

Soon after the meeting, as JNUSU president gave the call for the march students started scattering. Police in riot gear resorted to mild force to control the crowd which tried to block the traffic on Janpath Road. Using loud speakers, the police also appealed to the crowd to maintain peace. Police even slapped a student and hit him with a stick as he resisted them. The detained students were taken to Mandir Marg police station.

Difficult times for the nation
The country is going through difficult times and there is so much violence that endeavour should be for peace, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while refusing to entertain a plea seeking the Citizenship (Amendment) Act be declared constitutional.

Expressing surprise over the petition, a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said this was the first time that someone was seeking that an Act be declared as constitutional. The bench, also comprising justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, said it will hear the petitions challenging validity of CAA when the violence stops.

'Ekla cholo re'

"If needed, I will fight alone," a livid Mamata Banerjee declared on Thursday in the West Bengal Assembly where she said she will boycott a meeting called by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on January 13 over campus violence and the CAA, exposing opposition faultlines on the issues. Banerjee was angry over violence in her state during a trade union strike called by organisations affiliated to the Left and the Congress over "anti-people" policies, including economic measures and the new citizenship law and NRC. "I have decided to boycott the meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi on January 13 in New Delhi as I do not support the violence that the Left and Congress unleashed in West Bengal yesterday," she said in the House when the Opposition insisted that the House pass a resolution against the CAA.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever