Outstation students protest as they are denied re-entry into hostel post-lockdown

New Delhi: About 25 Delhi University (DU) students, who are residents of Mata Kasturba Gandhi Girls Hostel in North Campus, have been protesting against their eviction from the hostel since September 1.

The students, who went home after the lockdown, came back but were not allowed to enter the hostel. They also claimed that they were harassed by the authorities. "Inter- and intra-state movement is allowed, which is why the students came back to the hostel to give their entrance exams. Many were facing network issues while attending online classes at home," Priyanka Kashyap, a student of faculty of law, DU said. She was one of the few students who had come back.

The students were also asked to vacate the hostel facilities after they demanded re-entry, to which they claimed that no official notice was given to them for vacating the hostel.

However, since the students started protesting, they have been intimidated by the authorities. "We will continue to protest, because what we are asking is not unreasonable," she added. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has also issued an arrest memo for the students who are protesting.

The Millennium Post contacted the general secretary of Harijan Sevak Sangh, Rajnish Kumar who said that a notice was taken out where the girls were told to not come back due to COVID-19. "Due to the COVID situation many girls had already left, while few who could not go were kept here till June. But after the DM's order they were asked to leave. We have not opened the hostel ever since. When these girls came we told them the same but they refused to leave," he said.