YFE condemns immolation bid; Asks people to maintain calm

New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) Appealing people to maintain peace and calm, the Youth For Equality (YFE) tonight condemned the immolation bid by a youth and asked the Government to heed the demands raised by anti-reservation activists as it was a ''sensitive issue''.

''This is a deplorable act.... The youth is not a part of us.

We are committed to a very peaceful agitation and do not believe in any form of violence,'' Dr Anirudh Lochan, a founding member of Youth for Equality, told UNI.

''We have held several protests and rallies and violence is not a part of us,'' he added.

Dr Lochan said the Government must take a note of the demands raised by the ant-reservation activists now.

''It is a very sensitive issue.... If the Government keeps ignoring and turning a deaf ear towards these demands passions are bound to be fanned,'' he added.

Twenty-three-year-old Rishi Gupta, hailing from Bihar attempted to immolate himself at the Ramlila Grounds here during a the ''Desh Bachao'' rally of the Youth for Equality.

He was rushed to the Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital.

A doctor at the hospital said he had received 40 per cent burn injuries on his abdomen and arms. He was stated to be out of danger.

''He has been admitted to the hospital's burns ward,'' the doctor said.

Gupta was said to be an ex-B Com student. He was running a shop in Shahdara area of East Delhi.

Though he was not part of the rally or any of the participating orgainsations, he was heard raising anti-reservation slogans before he set himself on fire outside the venue of the rally.

Agitators, leaving the Ramlila Grounds as more than three-and-half-hour-long rally was getting over, and policemen rushed in and tore off his burning clothes. He was put in police vehicle and taken to the nearby hospital.

In 1990, Rajiv Goswami immolated himself in protest against implementation of job and university education reservations for backward castes to the extent of 27 per cent in addition to the existing quotas of 22.5 per cent, as recommended by the Mandal Commission.

That sparked a series of self-immolation bids by other college students and led to a formidable movement against the implementation of the policy.

Goswami had attempted self-immolation at the Deshbandhu College in South Delhi.

He died in February 2004 due to severe health complications which resulted out of his burn injuries.

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