Mixed response to ABVP Jharkhand strike
By IANSFriday, July 2, 2010
RANCHI - The dawn-to-dusk strike by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to protest police baton charge on its workers evoked a mixed response in Jharkhand Friday.
The impact was visible in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Gumla, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh as shops and schools were closed, but it was negligible in many districts.
In the state capital, over 100 ABVP workers were arrested when they were trying to enforce the strike while in Gumla, more than 150 workers were held.
According to police, over 900 ABVP workers were arrested in Jharkhand.
ABVP called the strike to protest against police baton charge in which seven of its workers were injured.
On June 29, hundreds of ABVP workers had gathered near the Governor House to protest a strike by the non-teaching staff of various universities which, they said, was affecting examinations and studies.
Police conducted a baton-charge and used water cannons to disperse the ABVP workers as some of them attempted to breach the barricades.
The non-teaching staff were on strike for the last three months in the state demanding hike in salaries as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The graduation examinations of the Ranchi University, scheduled to begin from July 1, were postponed due to the strike.
The strike ended June 30.
