Ahmedabad — A bus was set on fire near Sardar Patel Colony in the city and three more were set ablaze in Rajkot near Saurashtra University as the ant reservation agitation of students continued to sweep Gujarat on Thursday.
Students took out a procession from the Gandhi statue on Ashram Road to Indulal Yagnik’s statue in the Lal Darwaza area of the city; an estimated 1,500 students took part in the procession shouting ant reservation slogans. They dispersed after garlanding the labor leader’s statue and took a vow to keep their stir nonviolent.
A spokesman of the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) said a dozen buses have been damaged in the agitation. He estimated the damage to be around Rs 1 lakh.
The AMTS on Thursday withdrew nearly 150 buses on the Naranpura. Wadaj. University and other routes severely affecting movement in these areas.
A spokesman of the state health department said students of Baroda Medical College boycotted their classes while all the undergraduate students of medical colleges in Surat and Jamnagar went on a day’s token strike on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the closure of schools and colleges in the city following the ant reservation stir has been challenged in the Gujarat High Court.
BEWARE OF
ANTI SIKH RUMORS
Article extracted from this publication >> March 8, 1985
