Asaduddin Owaisi urges AMU to rollback fee hike, backs students' protest

"In complete solidarity with the students of Aligarh Muslim University. The University must roll back its fee hike at the earliest. Many of AMU's students come from backwards regions & very poor families. A 35%-40% increase in fees is unbearable for them," Owaisi wrote on X.

Students at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have been protesting for the past seven days over various demands, including fee hikes, the revocation of suspensions, and the release of detained students.

The protest intensified after an incident where female students were allegedly harassed by the proctorial team and police during a peaceful demonstration.

Students are demanding the resignation of the proctorial team for their failure to protect students' dignity and safety. In a symbolic gesture, female students are sending rakhis (sacred threads) to various authorities, including the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Governor, and university officials, urging them to take responsibility for their safety.

The students condemned the recent police action against protesters and vow to continue their protest until their demands are met.

One of the students said, "For the past seven days, there has been a dharna (sit-in protest) going on for the demands that were made. To support that, a large number of law faculty students came here and showed their support. We want all the demands, whether it is the fee hike demand, the student union's demand, the suspension revocation demand, or the demand related to the boys who were detained, to be met."

During the protest, female demonstrators sent rakhis to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Governor, DM, SSP, and the AMU Alumni Association, demanding protection on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

The student added, "Our sisters were assaulted, their dignity was hurt, and demands have been made against those responsible. On this occasion of Raksha Bandhan, our sisters are sending some rakhis to our Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Governor, President, SSP, and DM, asking them to take responsibility for our protection."

In response to security failures, the female students also showed black threads to the proctorial team as a sign of protest.

Another student said, "Our first demand is the resignation of the proctorial team responsible for this dishonour. We are sitting here until they resign; until then, our demands will not be met. Once they resign, then our other demands regarding fees and so on will be taken up." (ANI)