CHANDIGARH, Nov 10 — A group of nearly 70 students continued their sit-in inside Panjab University (PU) on Monday, declaring they would not leave until the administration announces the long-delayed schedule for Senate elections.
The protest, which began last week, entered a more determined phase as students set up tents near Gate No. 1 and began sharing food through a community ‘langar.’ Despite heavy police deployment and barricades around the campus, protesters have refused to disperse, saying the withdrawal of the Centre’s restructuring order was “only a partial step.”
PU Campus Students Council (PUCSC) leader Abhishek Dagar said the students’ demands go beyond the withdrawal. “We will stay here peacefully until the university releases the Senate poll dates. Our movement is for restoring democratic representation in the university,” he said.
Police personnel remained posted along key entry points, particularly at the Chandigarh-Mohali border, as authorities tried to prevent further mobilisation. “Security measures are in place to maintain calm,” a senior police official said, adding that coordination with university authorities would continue.
Farmer leaders, including Balbir Singh Rajewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher, reached the campus to extend support to the students. “The youth are standing up for their democratic rights, and we are with them,” Rajewal told the media.
The agitation began after the Centre’s amendment to the Panjab University Act, 1947, which had proposed cutting down the Senate from 91 to 31 members and scrapping Syndicate elections. Though the order was withdrawn earlier this month after political backlash, both students and faculty remain sceptical of the government’s intentions.
PUCSC vice-president Ashmeet Singh said the sit-in would remain peaceful but firm. “Students have decided not to leave until the poll schedule is announced,” he said, while student groups also renewed calls for the release of their detained colleagues.
