Students’ protest at LU leave the freshers scared

Three days of protest, violence and disruption of classes on campus by students at Lucknow University, against a hike in hostel fees, left the freshers scared and apprehensive. Although the university administration rolled back the hike in fees on Saturday, those three days of stir, that began on Wednesday, has left the undergraduates, who have been to the university for barely a week, rather shaken.
The protesting students locked the university gates, not allowing anyone to either enter or go out of the campus. They also shouted slogans against the administration and barged into the cashier’s office. A few of these students also disrupted classes and forced university officials to stop work which caused clashes between the officials and the students. The unrest not only caused problem to the students, it has also created fear in the minds of the new students.
Students protesting at Lucknow University disrupted classes and locked the gates of the university (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmed Siddiqui)
Prakriti Saxena, a student who’s taken admission in BCom this year, says, "Mujhe lag raha hai ki Lucknow University mein padhne ka mahaul hi nahi hai. Abhi toh theek se classes bhi start nahi hui hain aur yeh sab dekhne ko mil raha hai. I am a bit scared after seeing this violence and protests and have decided to now come to the university only after all this has ended." A sentiment that’s shared by Adity Sharma, a fellow student, who says, "When I heard the seniors shouting slogans, I was so scared. They had also locked the doors and wouldn’t let anyone go outside. My friends and I we were trapped and scared ki ab kya hoga. The police had also been called. I had heard that university mein aisa sab hota hai, but witnessing it first hand is not at all nice."
Asma and Sheeba, who have taken admission in BA at the university say they just kept sitting inside their class while all this protest was going on on Thursday. "Students screaming slogans and locking the gate left us both so scared. We kept sitting in the classroom for hours before someone told us about a rear entrance which was open and we somehow could get out and go home," says Sheeba.
Protesting students locked the Lucknow University gate on Friday afternoon (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmed Siddiqui)
The protests that began on Wednesday continued for the next subsequent days too and the campus gates were shut. The saving grace being that no classes were disrupted and the counselling sessions for new admissions went on well. But the sight of a mob of students shouting slogans was not a pleasant one for most fuchchas. "I was told that yeh sab Lucknow University mein aksar dekhne ko milta hai. Ab toh ye kam ho gaya hai, pehle aur zyada dange hote thay. Issey university ki reputation par bahut bura asar hua hai," says Abhishek Mehrotra, a first year student of BSc, adding, "My father had warned me of this type of unrests at the university but abhi toh first hand experience hua. I was scared ki kahin police mujhe bhi inme se ek samajh ke na pakad le jaye." Juhi, a first-year student of BA was also warned by her mother to not take admission in the university because of having read of such violent protests in papers earlier. "But since my father is in the police he was very supportive and I took admission in the university,” says Juhi, adding, “I have stopped attending classes and now I will go only after the situation is normal there. I feel scared seeing all this naare baazi and shorgul."
But taking all of this in his stride was Krishna Dwivedi, a fresher pursuing BSc, who says, "It's normal to see students protesting and that sometimes going out of hand. It's all part of the experience of studying in a university. Everyone has their demands and the means for them to be fulfilled. This is a new experience for me and yes, I was a bit apprehensive about the worst case scenario but in the end I managed to sneak out through the rear gate of the university."
(*Some names in the story have been changed on request)
Prachi Arya