Hostel fee hike to citizenship row — Delhi has been a hotbed of protests for 4 months now

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Hostel fee hike to citizenship row — Delhi has been a hotbed of protests for 4 months now

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  • For the last four months, the residents of Delhi have been either stuck in never-ending traffic or walked out of closed metro stations; or looking for ways to keep their children engaged thanks to unexpected school closures.
  • All this is happening in the wake of protests, violence, gunfire and a lot more that is stressing out the national capital.
  • Here are all the reasons that Delhi is protesting and suffering for, at the same time.
For the last four months, the residents of Delhi have been either stuck in never-ending traffic or walked out of closed metro stations; or looking for ways to keep their children engaged thanks to unexpected school closures. All this is happening in the wake of protests, violence, gunfire and a lot more that is stressing out the national capital.

The era of protests started much before the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) issue raged on. In early November, students started it as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) hiked hostel fee. Later, the winter session of the Parliament has left students and citizens alike taking to the streets protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Recently, depositors of scam-hit PMC Bank staged a protest outside RBI in Delhi asking the banking regulator to take action. Moreso, the victims who saw their savings vanish also said that they would take inspiration from ‘Shaheen Bagh’ protests.

Looks like Delhi is not falling short of issues to take to streets about. While most of the above-mentioned issues are resulting in strife across the country, no city is as affected as Delhi which has become the hotbed. Adding to that, most protests are taking a violent turn, and random incidents of gun shots fired by miscreants is not helping Delhi-ites who are already skittish thanks to pollution spikes and inconsistent weather.

The residents are unable to keep up a routine either as untoward incidents have been keeping adults from work and children from schools. There have been at least three such incidences where the schools were shut in Delhi. Two months ago, the massive protests against CAA at the Jamia Millia Islamia University had led to closure of schools in South Delhi. And it hasn’t gotten any better since that day.
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Even today (February 25), the schools will remain shut in the North East Delhi as the intelligence agencies suspect riots in the area. This was after seven people — including a constable of Delhi Police — lost their lives amid the clashes.

Here are all the reasons that Delhi is protesting and suffering for, at the same time.


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​Shaheen Bagh inconvenience

​Shaheen Bagh inconvenience


Ironically, right after the Supreme Court has now said that indefinite protests on roads cannot be permitted, they aggravated. It's been more than 70 days and the government is still trying to figure out ways to negotiate with the protestors. The apex Court will hear now hear pleas to shift Shaheen Bagh protestors to an alternate site.


​Sexual assault at an all-women campus

​Sexual assault at an all-women campus


Recently, hundreds of students at the all-women Gargi College of the University of Delhi (DU) staged protests outside the college campus against the sexual assault by a group of men, who gatecrashed their campus fest. The students were demanding “safe fest or no fest”.


According to the National Commission for Women (NCW), nearly 36 intruders who were drunk, barged in the campus during the college’s annual cultural fest — ‘Reverie’ — on February 6 and misbehaved with the students.

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Masked goons attacking students and teachers

Masked goons attacking students and teachers

In January, violence broke out at India's premier central university — Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus. Nearly 50 masked goons — allegedly from ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) — entered the campus, attacking students and teachers with wooden and metal rods. They also vandalised property and the president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Aishe Ghosh was also injured during the attack.


​CAA protests at Jamia Millia Islamia

​CAA protests at Jamia Millia Islamia


The Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi — which is home to over 20,000 students turned into a political hotbed when over a hundred students were injured in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that broke out at its premises in December.


Students across universities — Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Jadavpur University, IIT Mumbai, Delhi University — supported the students over the police. They were protesting against the CAA which is provides allows special treatment to non-Muslim migrants while giving Indian citizenship. The Muslim minority is agitated on the initiatives that exclude them from the government policies.


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​JNU students marching on the streets

​JNU students marching on the streets


In November, hundreds of university students had taken to the streets, holding placards in protest of fee hikes. According to the student union, the institute raised hostel, mess and security fee by 400%. However, the fee hikes were partially rolled back after the protests broke — but the students continued to protest demanding a complete rollback.


The university also imposed hostel curfews and a dress code — which did not resonate well with the students either.

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