Patna: Hundreds of students led by student organization AISA gheraoed BJP President JP Nadda for hours at the Patna College campus on 30 July 2022. The students were angry that despite being the 7th oldest University in the country, Patna University has not yet been accorded Central University status.
AISA State Secretary Kumar Divyam said that the BJP President, having come to Patna College, must answer the students' demands. Central University status for Patna University has been a long-standing and popular demand of all the people of Bihar but the BJP has always denied this most popular demand of the people of Bihar and thus mocked the sentiments of Bihar. On the one hand JP Nadda says he is proud to have been a student of this University, but on the other hand he does not deem fit to utter a single word on the demand of 10 crore people of Bihar.
AISA leaders pointed out that 4 years ago when PM Modi had come to the Science College maidan AISA had raised the demand for Central University status for Bihar, but the Prime Minister had flatly denied the demand and thus insulted the sentiments of Bihar. It was natural for students to feel angry when BJP leaders have once again come to Patna College today. We demand that if JP Nadda really associates himself with Patna University he should, being the ruling party president, without delay work for declaring Central University status for Patna University.
The AISA also demanded rollback of the New Education Policy. This is a policy that encourages privatization. We shall never accept this policy which hands over education to the mercies of the market.
The AISA activists said that protest is our democratic right. The way in which the police have resorted to brutal lathi charge on peacefully protesting students is extremely condemnable. This is a conspiracy to crush voices of democratic dissent. Present on the occasion were AISA State Secretary Kumar Divyam and AISA leaders Neeraj Yadav, Aditya Ranjan, Vishal Vinayak, Abhishek Chandan, Shaswat and Abhishek.
