Protests at Dighalipukhuripar make students suffer

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 11: Will Kamrup(M) district administration provide an altertive site for protesters to hold rallies, with Dighalipukhuripar in the city turning into a protest hub?

Dighalipukhuripar is a prominent site in the heart of the city as its entire stretch can be termed as the education hub with Cotton College, Handique Girls’ College, Don Bosco School etc., being located in its vicinity. Besides these, Guwahati Railway Station, Gauhati High Court, Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital etc., are also situated in that area.

Traffic congestion is a regular affair in the area. Protest march or any such assemblage adds to the situation. There is one or the other protest in the spot almost every day, leading to traffic srls.

Speaking to The Sentinel, Maswini Panda, a BA 5th semester student of Handique Girls’ College, said, “Protest is our democratic right. It’s considered as a non-violent weapon to criticize those at the helm of affairs. In this democratic setup one cannot justify that protest are not necessary. The aim of protest itself is to create hindrance in the smooth functioning of the government so that they listen to their demands. It can be termed as the philosophy of protesters. However, a park nearby the educatiol institutions being turned into a protest hub cannot be justified.”

Adding, she said that the administration concerned should take necessary steps as such rallies are a nuisance for the educatiol institutions there. “Students get late for their classes and examitions because of traffic congestions which the protesters create,” she said.

“We’ve requested the administration to provide a prominent place for protesters. Dighalipukhuri is also a historic site and a tourist spot in the city. The college magement has already moved the district administration and requested them to stop all those protests as we are getting lots of disturbance,” said Professor Archa Sarma of Handique Girls’ College.

DCP (Traffic) Amanjeet Kaur said, “We try our level best to restore peace whenever there is protest in the area. The department concerned has selected that area for them. Whenever traffic gets stuck we do our best to get rid of it.”