Dehradun police seem to be encouraging the student leaders to indulge in hooliganism in the city, albeit in a roundabout way. Altercations pregnant with the possibility of violent flare-ups between the members of rival student groups are becoming almost a routine affair with the students’ union election process being now underway.
However, police seem to be fawning on them, as they are bereft of the pluck to act against them, given the politicised contour of the students’ politics, the lyngdoh Committee platitudes notwithstanding.
National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) members had clashed with Akhil Bharatiya Vidarthy Parishad (ABVP) members over closure of DAV (PG) College on Monday. Police were present in adequate strength. They just took recourse to a mild baton charge-a move that seemed to have had no impact on those for whom the action was meant. later, seemingly emboldened by police acquiescing their pranks, the students’ leaders who were found closing the Government and private degree colleges in protest against the merit- based admissions earlier took out a bike rally, violating traffic rules on several roads with impunity. The cops were seen following them on their vehicles, as if, by way of giving them protection. City Patrol Unit which was formed by the State Director General of Police, BS Sidhu to clamp down on such traffic violations through issuing challans chose to look the other way.
On Tuesday, the students belonging to Aryan and Pattu groups clashed over a petty issue. They indulged in hooliganism right within the campus with gusto. As if, to wrap up the case, police had registered an FIR and a counter FIR under Section 323 and 504 of IPC against Aryan group members and Pattu group members in the Karanpur police post on Tuesday. They conspicuously stopped short of taking follow-up action against the errant activists.
The administration have deployed two platoons of PAC jawans and erected police post. But the cops failed to instill fear in the students, who seemed intent on unleashing disorder in the college campus on Tuesday. The unabated incidents of rivals browbeating one another have spawned a sense of insecurity among the students aspiring for admission.
A students’ leader, resident of Raipur alleged that some persons belonging to the rival camp had barged into his home to beat him on Tuesday night. Dalanwala Police station in-charge Anil Joshi said no one has registered a complaint in the police station as regards this case.
On condition of anonymity, a police officer said police cannot crush students’ unrest in the way they deal with the hardened goons. “They are students, after all,” he said.
However, some observers feel such affection cannot account for police remaining almost idle spectators when some students are showing penchant for delinquency. “Police fear the politicians the most. They also know where their palms are greased. This is why they are not interested in acting on the delinquents. They know these students wield power thanks to their connections with the powers that be. Things are as simple as that,” an observer said.