UGC rules spark protests in Himachal Pradesh

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The North News

Shimla, January 28

Protests against the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) newly notified regulations intensified across India on Tuesday, with demonstrations held in Himachal Pradesh’s capital, Shimla. Members of the Devbhoomi Kshatriya organisation and the Rashtriya Devbhoomi Party staged a protest outside the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state office, raising slogans against the central government. Several demonstrators were seen wearing handcuffs and chains, symbolising what they described as the “criminalisation” of students from the general category.

Rashtriya Devbhoomi Party president Rumit Singh Thakur alleged that the new UGC rules discriminate against students from the general category and violate Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. He claimed that the regulations amount to preparing “innocent students for imprisonment without any offence”.

Thakur also accused Members of Parliament, including BJP MPs from Himachal Pradesh, of remaining silent on the issue. He named senior leaders such as JP Nadda, Anurag Thakur and actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, saying none had spoken out against the rules.

Warning of escalation, Thakur said his party would call for a statewide shutdown if the regulations were not withdrawn. He argued that while voices from various social groups were being heard, students from the general category were being “systematically marginalised”.

The central government and the UGC have not yet responded to the protestors’ demands.