JNU protest: Entry, exit points closed at 4 Delhi metro stations near Parliament

NEW DELHI: Entry and exit points of as many as three Delhi Metro stations near Parliament have been shut down temporarily due to the ongoing protest by JNU students, Delhi Police said on Monday.

Services on Yellow line metro stations including Udyog Bhavan, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, and Lok Kalyan Marg have been suspended temporarily seeing the escalated tensions near Parliament as the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students` Union (JNUSU) on Monday carried out a march to Parliament, as the winter session began, demanding a complete rollback of the hostel fee hike.

Taking to Twitter, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, "As advised by Delhi Police, trains are not halting at Udyog Bhawan and Patel Chowk. Exit/Entry Gates for Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat have been closed temporarily."

As advised by Delhi Police, trains are not halting at Lok Kalyan Marg and entry/exit gates of the station have also been closed temporarily. — Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) November 18, 2019

Further, the Aurobindo marg route from AIIMS to Safdarjung Airport has been closed on both sides. The Africa Avenue route heading towards Chanakya Puri from Sarojini Nagar Gol Chakkar has also been closed. Three layers of barricading have been done around Safdarjung Mausoleum due to the aggressive protest by JNU students.

As hundreds of students tried to march towards Parliament, barricades were put in place by Delhi Police and a massive deployment of personnel was reinforced around the JNU campus. Section 144 was imposed and prohibitory orders were also put in place.

The agitating students were seen clashing with the police during their protests. They even pushed the personnel and behaved rudely with them, but were stopped by police around half a kilometre from the institute's campus in south Delhi. The students also used foul language against PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

This comes even as the Education Secretary had earlier addressed their concern by a partial roll back and on Monday announcing a new committee, which will open dialogue with the students. Further, the Ministry of Human Resource has formed a committee under the chairmanship of former UGC chairman Dr. Virander Singh Chauhan to find an amicable solution between agitating students and JNU administration. 

The agitating students of the (JNU on Monday also protested against Zee News, during their march to Parliament on the first day of winter session. During their march, placards displaying messages against Zee News were seen. A message read--'No nationalism in your DNA Zee News'. The JNU students misbehaved with Zee News reporters during their march and used offensive language against the channel and its reporters. This is not the first time that the students have launched an attack on Zee News.

The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) have been protesting for several weeks now because according to them the JNU administration has passed a draft hostel manual on October 3, 2019, without any consultation with the student community. They started their protest from October 29 by boycotting classes and examinations.