BK Singh
Allahabad
On the fourth day of their peaceful struggle, UPPSC aspirants won half the battle after authorities concerned acceded to their demand to hold a one-day PCS preliminary test.
However, UPPSC could not decide on the fate of the RO/ARO preliminary. The aspirants had demanded that this preliminary should also be held in one day.
This uncertainty brought disillusionment amongst the aspirants and they are continuing with their night and day peaceful dharna in front of the UPPSC here in Allahabad.
Thousands of students from UP and other states are there at the gates of UPPSC.
Several hundred of them spend the night under the open sky in this fast-changing weather as nights are becoming colder.
The agitations include female aspirants. They too are spending night and day squatting on the road in front of the UPPSC building.
How aspirants are agitating gives a clear signal about the determination of the youth to carry out this dharna as long as the authorities concerned do not accede to our demands, says Saket Pandey an AU student.
Another student Pradeep Vishwakarma and a host of his mates alleged that police misbehaved with girls and boys in plainclothes.
About a dozen cops came purposely to evict us forcibly and make the student’s movement weak by using such tactics but we are not going to budge as long as all our demands are not met, said the students.
On the other hand, policemen denied having anything to do with the manhandling part.
Cops blamed it on anti-social elements.
Police took into custody a few agitations and challenged them under section 151 for disturbing law and order.
They were reportedly released from the police station on bail.
Aspirants accused the cops of manhandling the girls one of them is differently abled and walks with crutches. Her one leg was injured in the melee. Aspirants have blamed it all on the plain-clothed cops.
In uniform cops are maintaining a distance while encircling us from three sides but they are misbehaving in plain clothes, alleged students.
Looking at the night and day agitation of UPPSC aspirants the administration has made arrangements to park a toilet on wheels near the UPPSC.
As the entire student community has come out in open support of the agitation many of them were spending money on supplying food packets and water bottles.
On Thursday a fresh batch of girls and boys came to the city from Delhi to support our agitation which we are determined to make more stronger, said a student.
The entire lot of students from Delhi came straight to the dharna site with their belongings. All of them including girls will spend nights and days on the road under the sky.
On Thursday, students appeared getting angry with the UP government. We are not angry with the UPPSC anymore but our focus is the state government said many of them. We will teach a lesson to this government, they said in unison.