Medicos protest reservation, teargassed

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Hundreds of students of Delhi's five medical colleges today clashed with the police after it prevented them from 'petitioning' Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh against the reservation policy in Central universities and institutions of higher education, and blocked road.

The students, were tear-gassed and sprayed with water cannons when they blocked traffic on Janpath, near Hotel Le Meridian crossing, this afternoon.

Mild lathicharge was also resorted to in order to break the 'rasta roko', which lasted for more than one-and-a-half hours.

However, no one was reported injured.

Three rounds of tear-gas shells were fired to disperse those who staged a 'rasta roko' to 'apprise' people on the issue.

Before dispersing, students told mediapersons that they wanted the people to know about the consequences of the reservation policy which was why they blocked traffic.

''The agitation would continue in our respective colleges through a series of sit-ins, demonstrations and protest rallies,'' they added.

Earlier, the medicos burnt of Arjun Singh in effigy at Jantar Mantar and raised anti-reservation slogans. Denouncing the 'backward step' of the Union HRD Minister, protestors demanded that the proposed Bill be scrapped.

Prior to this, students from the AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College assembled near Akbar Road residence of Arjun Singh to petition the minister.

But the police stopped them from proceeding to the minister's house as they did not have prior permission. They were asked to move to Jantar Mantar.

At Jantar Mantar they were joined by their other collegues who after staging protest demonstrations moved to Janpath for 'rasta roko'.

Police later said no one had been detained or arrested.

In the second leg of demonstrations to protest reservations, medical students also gathered at Raj Ghat, where they were joined by students of associted hospitals and engineering colleges. Some students from the Delhi University also joined the protests.

They later took out a protest rally demanding that the proposed reservation Bill be done away with as it was a negative step.

The 'show', they said, was to mobilise support of the people in general and student community in particular, whose future was at stake with this self-defeating policy.

UNI AN MA VC1822