Protest against Repression of Coaching Students in Bihar

The AISA took up several initiatives against the repression unleashed on students protesting against coaching centres in Bihar and against the loot in the name of Nitish’s boasts of turning Bihar into an ‘education hub.’ On 12 February protest demonstrations and burning of Nitish’s effigy took place at Ara, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Bhagalpur, Sitamarhi,

Nawada and other district HQs. At Patna, students marched from the local radio station to Dak Bangla Chauraha where they held a protest meeting and burnt the CM’s effigy. Addressing the gathering, AISA National VP Abhyuday demanded compensation for the two students – Sachin Sharma and Krishnakant Jha who died in the violence against protesting students, confiscation of the immense ill-gotten wealth and weapons of those who run coaching institutes, a pro-student coaching policy, and end to political patronage of the coaching mafia and an end to the policies of privatisation and commercialisation of education, of which the worst example are the coaching institutes.

On 13 February, AISA called for a state-wide bandh in universities. AISA held a militant march and ensured success of the bandh at Lalit Narayan Mithila University and Tilkamanjhi University, Bhagalpur. At Sitamarhi, AISA’s bandh call not only resulted in shutting down of the government colleges but also private coaching institutes. At Patna University, classes remained fully suspended in Darbhanga House, Patna College, Science College; university offices remained shut and students boycotted exams. Teachers and karmacharis also supported the bandh. The Bandh was also successful at Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, and many colleges in Samastipur, Nawada, Jamui, Vaishali and Jehanabad.

Through the bandh, AISA demanded that maximum fees for any course be fixed at Rs. 1000, a cap of 60 students per batch, a high-level enquiry into the nexus of coaching institutions with politicians, confiscation of the wealth of coaching centre operators, compensation of a crore each to the students who were killed, and fixing of room rent at Rs. 500 in private hostels. AISA warned of a state-wide protest demonstration and hunger strike outside the Bihar Assembly if the Government failed to introduce a bill to rein in the coaching institutes on the first day of the Assembly session.