By IANS,
Shimla : Over 50,000 students in over 150 colleges across Himachal Pradesh were affected Monday following a one-day strike call by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The call for the shutdown was given following the government’s failure to transfer Deputy Commissioner Onkar Sharma from Mandi district. Sharma allegedly manhandled an ABVP activist at Mandi town Oct 11.
“The education shutdown was complete in over 150 private and government colleges across the state. Even in Himachal Pradesh University (at Shimla), the strike was complete,” said ABVP’s national secretary Umesh Dutt.
Colleges in various towns were shut by college authorities in advance to prevent any untoward incident.
Later in the afternoon, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal invited activists of the ABVP for the talks on the issue.
A spokesperson for the government said: “The chief minister assured the activists of the ABVP that Deputy Commissioner Onkar Sharma would be soon transferred from Mandi district.”
On Saturday, the activists were beaten up with batons by police when they staged a protest in Mandi at a function where Dhumal was present.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Pardeep Kumar said: “No incidence of violence was reported from anywhere in the state during the shutdown.”
The ABVP, in the recent student elections, made a clean sweep in almost all the colleges.