New Delhi, May 27
It was grim reminder of the self-immolation by students during the Mandal unrest in 1990, when a 23-year-old attempted to immolate himself at a rally organised in the Capital today. The student, identified as Rishi Ranjan, set himself on fire at the Ram Lila Maidan, venue of the rally, even as he was stopped from doing so by the police personnel present there.
Rishi was rushed to the nearby Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital by the police immediately after he made the bid. Meanwhile, verbal assurances by the Prime Minister notwithstanding, the protesting students, bolstered by the support pouring in from other regions, have decided to continue their fast.
A sea of supporters from across the country that converged on the rally venue for the “Delhi Aao Desh Bachao” rally was proof enough of the intensity and the extent of spread of the anti-reservation movement.
With close to 20,000 persons turning up for the rally, members of the Youth for Equality, who have been spearheading the stir, are not ready to call off their fast.
Joining them are the students of the IITs, Kanpur and Delhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, who have also announced to go on fast.
“The strike will not be called off,” said Dr Anirudh Lochan of the Youth for Equality.
Supporting the students in their stir, former IIT-Chennai Director P. Indiresan said, “The government is wrongly accusing us of being anti-reservation. We are merely saying that instead of reservation for 1,000 persons, open good elementary schools for one lakh students and then see how they will come to the IITs on their own merit.”
