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Students on strike at BJ, parents too join in Wednesday, November 7, 2001

News Source : Times News Network
AHMEDABAD: Infighting between the two groups of students at the B J Medical College reached a flash point on Tuesday with both the factions sitting in dharna in front of dean K V Bhatt's office.

Students of the A, C and D blocks of the hostel, who are alleging atrocities by some students of the B block have also gone on a indefinite hunger strike demanding justice.

According to the striking students, at least three girls and a boy had fainted by late Tuesday evening on account of the hunger strike.

They identified the students as Megha Sharad, Shikha Khandelwal, Mahima Mittal and Arvind Nanora.

Adding a new twist to the tale were parents of inmates from the first three blocks who have joined the agitation, claiming their wards' education is suffering because of anti-social elements in the hostels.

The green lawns outside the college were converted into a sea of white as the students, dressed in their traditional coats, divided themselves in three groups. On the one side were students from Saurashtra and those who have come from outside Gujarat after passing the pre-medical test. They were supported by the girl students, living in block C of the hostel. On the other side were students from B black, dominated by students from Mehsana. They brought with them girl students from the nursing college, who are not directly associated with the issue. Parents created the third group.

With the strong presence of policemen outside, meetings between representatives of the two factions, the authorities went on till late afternoon inside the dean K V Bhatt's office, but he failed to broker peace between them. "After listening to both sides, we feel there is no need for further action," Bhatt said. "When the Shahibaug police are already investigating the matter, there is not much that we can do after suspending the 14 students from the hostel for six months."

Dissatisfied with the meeting, students from the A and D blocks say they will continue with their strike until they were assured of complete peace in the campus. They say some of their serious allegations were shrugged off and their parents were not even given a chance to speak.

Sitting under trees to protect themselves from the blazing sun, the parents say they can't remain mute spectators any more. "The very fact that we have had to come down from different parts of the state in support of our wards, is proof enough that things have gone out of hand in this campus," one parent from Junagadh, himself a doctor, told TNN. "My son has been beaten up for refusing to complete another student's journal. This can't go one day after day."

Many of them also feared their wards may be singled out later by their professors for "special treatment" if they came out openly against the authorities, but had no choice this time. They are demanding that those found guilty should be suspended from the college for six months, not just the hostel as an example to rowdy elements.

The suggestion for more police presence till tempers subside too has not gone down well with the students. As one of them put it, "They can beat us anywhere, inside the campus or outside it. The police can't follow our every step."

The B block students on the other hand maintain there was no need for this strike. "We already had meetings with state health minister Ashok Bhatt who has promised to resolve the issue," they say. "With this strike, we are only prolonging an issue that could have been solved with the minister's intervention, who has refused to help until there is complete peace on the campus."

News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]

 

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