After self-immolation bid at AU, fast-unto-death gathers steam

Prayagraj: After a spate of intense anti-fee hike protests including self-immolation attempts by students marred peace at the Allahabad University Arts faculty for the past 28 hours, the campus remained relatively calm on Wednesday. However, amid heavy deployment of police force, five prominent student leaders joined the ongoing fast-unto-death of the students at the Union hall to press for an immediate rollback of fee hike.
The AU has defended what it calls a “nominal” fee hike, saying that a concerted effort was being made to mislead the students and spread misinformation on the issue.
Wednesday was the 16th day of the ongoing fast-unto-death against the steep hike in fee at AU. In an attempt to further intensify their agitation, five student leaders, including Ajay Yadav Samrat who is leading the main movement, besides former vice-president of Allahabad University Student Union (AUSU) and state president of NSUI Akhilesh Yadav, joined the hunger strike. Saraswat Nitin Bhushan, Ajay Pandey ‘Baagi’ and Siddharth Kumar Golu were the other three prominent student leaders to join the stir.