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While Students burn CM’s Effigy, Police try to conceal protest scene from public

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protest against virbhadra singh

shimla sp office protest

SHIMLA-Today was the day when students would burn CM’s effigy as a protest, but unlike other days, this time police was seen putting more efforts to follow the orders. They did not allow passersby and onlookers to see what was happening amidst loud slogan shouting and the smoke which rose from the burning effigy. Media persons were also a subject to indirect warnings and press card checking.

HP Police had warned the students that if the effigy was burnt, cases will be registered against the violators. They tried hard to get hold of the effigy, but student dodged them and did successfully stage their symbolic protest. There was no drop in the level of aggression in student voices.

himachal pradesh university fee hiike protest

The student protest against jolting fee hikes in Himachal Pradesh University and in all affiliated colleges still continues. It’s gaining momentum right after the extremity of suppression and misuse of our police, but the HP Govt. and the HPU administration are pretending to not have noticed it.

After the HPU VC’s effigy was set on fire a couple of days ago, today, the students burnt that of the CM, Virbhadra Singh’s, in front of the Shimla DC Office.

shimla police

While, HW waited for the protest to begin, policemen, who were barricading the upper fences in front of the DC Office, said, “Yanha khade hona aur photo kichana manna hai”. When we asked the reason, the policemen repeated the usual answer, “ Humne nahi pata, Sahab wanha khade hain, unhi se baat kijiye”.


police barricate at shimla mall
So, today, the police made sure that no one from the common public or any other passerby could inquire what was going on there. Of course, the CM won’t like people to watch his burning effigy. When did this ordinance approved to ban photography on the Shimla Mall? Was there something which must not be photographed and shown to the public? What does a protest gathering and effigy burning mean if it were not to attract the attention of other citizens, who deserve to know why a section of their own people is in so much unrest?

HP Police at DC Office

Many people tried to get a glance of gathering and the source of rising smoke, but the dedicate policemen did not let it happen at any cost. A senior citizen was attracted by the slogan shouting and tried to move towards the source of this noise. When he was denied to go near, he said, “Mujhe sirf dekhna hai kya ho raha hai”, but wasn’t allowed. The police would say the spot was prone to a violent incident and it was for the safety of the public.

One of the policemen, a sub-inspector, approached us and asked to show media card, also warned us in the following words, “Check karna padta hai, aap yanha openly camera leke ghum rahe hain” and added, “wanha bheed ke pass mat jana, apko bhi chot lag sakti hai”

virbhadra singh effigy burnt

Well done HP Police. Unidentified faces with cameras are dangerous, especially those DSLR and Semi-DSLR types. We do not question the discretionary powers that the police is given to inquire a suspicious person, but we do wonder what harm or threat a person with camera would do. Of course, the acquainted faces of local reporters from dailies need not to be directed. It doesn’t matter what they capture, but what matters is the consent to publish it.

protest against virbhadra singh

To those who still think that these protests are mere political nuisance, which are spoiling academic environment of the college and that of HPU campus, we would like to request, again, that dive deeper into the pool of these events and you’ll notice many relevant issues related to our fundamental rights like those related to staging protests.

Lathicharge, arresting protestors, stop protestors and their buses as to stop them from reaching the spot of the rallies, not allowing cameras, and deny common public to hear and see the protests, these aren’t the thing our Govt. should focus on. There must be a reason that these student, whom the police trashed brutally, returned to protest again, and the reason is apparent; they are against putting the education and degrees on sale, so that each one of us could utilize the equality of the opportunity to access the education.

The student protest is likely to continue if the Govt. kept ignoring the student unrest. The Joint Action Committee of HPU students had already announced the dates for various protests throughout Himachal including ‘Chakkajam’ and ‘Mass arrest campaigns’. Rest, wait and watch how much the Govt. cares for the grievance of these students and their parents, who will have to bear the heavily hiked fees.

Photo/Video Credit: Tarun Sharma/Madan

Madan has studied English Literature and Journalism from HP University and lives in Shimla. He is an amateur photographer and has been writing on topics ranging from environmental, socio-economic, development programs, education, eco-tourism, eco-friendly lifestyle and to green technologies for over 9 years now. He has an inclination for all things green, wonderful and loves to live in solitude. When not writing, he can be seen wandering, trying to capture the world around him in his DSLR lens.

Campus Watch

Nauni Varsity Scholar Naincy Bags Scholarship to Pursue PhD in France

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Naincy Sagar uhf nauni scholar

Solan: Naincy Sagar, an alumna of Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni has bagged a fellowship for pursuing PhD from France. Nancy has reached France and will be pursuing PhD in Forest Genetics from the University of Orléans under INRAE fellowship. INRAE is France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Naincy has completed her BSc Forestry from College of Horticulture and Forestry (COH&F), Neri in 2018 and MSc Forest Biology and Tree Improvement and Genetic Resources from UAS, Dharwad, under ICAR’s National Talent Scheme. Before leaving for France last week, Naincy was working as a Junior Research Fellow in a research project at COH&F, Neri.

She had applied for a PhD with a scholarship in Forest Genetics which was advertised by INRAE. Naincy was successful in the interview and was awarded a fellowship for three years for pursuing PhD at the University of Orléans. During the course of the PhD, she will receive a total scholarship of around Rs 70 lakh along with medical reimbursement. Naincy will be working on forest tree larch species in the Project titled ‘Vigour at what cost? ‘Trade-off’ of hybrid vigour in Larch-Phenological, morphological and physiological determinants of hybrid superiority in Larix X eurolepis’ with a team of 20 scientists of Joint Integrated Biology Research Unit having expertise in genetics, genomics and physiology for the enhancement of tree and forest diversity

Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Vice-Chancellor of the university spoke to Naincy via web conferencing and congratulated her. Dr. Kaushal, who has also done his doctorate from France, shared some tips and suggestions. He asked Naincy to explore this opportunity to learn about new cultures along with doing research that could help to enhance and conserve forest wealth in the future.

Naincy expressed gratitude towards her father Satya Prakash Sagar (Retd. SDO BSNL) and mother Monika Sagar, who is working as SDO in BSNL for their continuous support for higher studies. She also thanked Vice-Chancellor Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Dean Dr. Kamal Sharma and Dr. Dushyant Sharma, Project Investigator and all the university staff for their support and guidance. The university administration, Dean of COH&F Neri congratulated Naincy and wished her success.  

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Campus Watch

HP University Extends College Admission Date for 2021-22 Session Till Oct 25

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hpu college admissions 2021-22 dates

Shimla-Dates for admissions to undergraduate courses for the session 2021-22 in colleges affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University has been extended, which has come as a relief to not only those students who were seeking fresh enrollments in the first year but also to the students of the second and third year. 

The varsity informed that the decision was taken after considering requests received from various students regarding the same.  

Now, willing students can apply for enrollment in both government and private colleges till 5 PM, October 25, 2021.

This extension of date would benefit students who recently passed supplementary exams or those students of the second and third-year who had missed admission due to delay in declaration of their previous results.

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UHF Nauni Extends Admission Dates for UG, PG, PhD Till Oct 18

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uhf nauni admissions 2021 dates

Solan– Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni, has extended the last date for applying to various Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral programmes in Horticulture, Forestry, Biotechnology, Agribusiness and Business Management. Applicants can submit their complete online application on the university’s admission portal till 18th October.

The normal seats of BSc (Hons) Horticulture, BSc (Hons) Forestry and B Tech Biotechnology will be filled on the basis of scorecard of ICAR-AIEEA (UG) 2021.

Admissions to MSc, MBA (Agribusiness) and PhD (for normal and self-financing seats) will also be conducted on the scorecard of ICAR AIEEA (PG) and AICE-JRF/SRF respectively. Students who have appeared in the ICAR-AIEEA 2021 for UG and PG, or AICE-JRF/SRF examination and are interested in seeking admission, such students must fill the university online application form before 18th October. Undergraduate aspirants who have not appeared in the ICAR test can however apply for the self-financing seats for B Sc and B Tech Biotechnology programmes run by the university by filling the online application on the university website.

The university has also advised the registered candidates to submit complete online application forms along with online payment acknowledgement slip before the due date. The schedule for online counselling will be announced by the University on the website after the declaration of the ICAR examination result. Application forms other than online mode will not be accepted.

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