JNU students, police clash during protest

New Delhi: Minor clashes broke out between Delhi Police and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students during a protest outside the UGC building here over the students` demand to meet the UGC Chairperson.

Police barricaded the way towards the University Grants Commission (UGC) office and placed a `warning` sign to stop the protesting students from storming the office premises.

The clashes occurred when police forced the students to retreat from the barricades. Police roughed up some students which led to more aggressive sloganeering by the students.

"We just want to meet the (UGC) Chairman. Police are not even letting us convey this message to him inside... We mean to protest peacefully," former JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar told IANS.

The demonstration was held against a seat-cut in M.Phil and P.hD courses which was ordered by the university, and since upheld by the Delhi High Court. 

The order has come following a 2009 UGC notification, which put a cap on the number of students a faculty member could take up for supervision.

The previous 1,000 plus seats, in this admission season, have been reduced to 102.

Earlier in the day, the students also staged a protest on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg leading to a long trail of automobiles stuck in traffic.

"We were forced to protest on the road since the police weren`t allowing us to do so outside the UGC then," a JNU student told IANS.