Quota row: Students take fight into Delhi Univ

United Students, a front created to fight the government policy on reservations, on Monday decided to take the anti-quota protest into the Delhi University with its members filing nominations for the Delhi University Student's Union.

'We decided that if we do not start hitting them where it hurts, political parties and leaders will never get the message,' said Nikhita Arora, a group member in a press handout.

'Our value should decide the weight of our opinions. Just because politicians have succeeded in keeping the majority of the country uneducated does not mean that we have become irrelevant,' Anshulika Dubey, a Miranda House college student, said.

The group also has members from scheduled caste and scheduled tribes as well.

'It is not the policy of reservations

or concessions that we are against. We have agreed that the poor and economically backward should have some protectionist policies in their favour. What we resent is the manner in which caste is being used to further the number of sub groups into this category with the idea only of exploiting the policy and nothing else,' said Lian Min Thang from the northeast.

'This apart, the extension of this policy to Other Backward Classes has unnecessarily brought pressure on SC/ST quotas, which were designed against a historical reality at the time of independence. I know that the entire northeast students' community is unnecessarily facing scrutiny on this issue in the University and they resent it,' Thang added.

DUSU office bearer elections are normally fought between the National Students Union of India, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the left parties.