Rasta roko hits life

SHIMLA, Nov 25: Life in the town was thrown out of gear this morning as activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) disrupted traffi...

SHIMLA, Nov 25: Life in the town was thrown out of gear this morning as activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) disrupted traffic on the Shimla-Kalka National Highway and other roads in protest against the price rise and "commercialisation of educational institutions".

The government and district authorities were caught napping as dozens of SFI activists managed to block traffic near Soghi and other vantage-points as early as 3 a.m. School children, most of them going for their annual examinations, were the worst affected even as the supply of essential commodities like milk, bread and butter was hit. The town went without newspapers because of the disruption of traffic on the National Highway.

Deputy Commissioner Ram Subhagh Singh admitted that protesting youth had succeeded in paralysing services, including transport, till 9 a.m. He said 44 students and youth had either been booked under various offences, including unlawful assembly and wrongfully restraining people, or rounded up. He claimed that senior officials, including the additional district magistrate, and police personnel who swung into action soon after coming to know about the blockades succeeded in bringing normalcy within four hours.

SFI president Aditya and general secretary Dalip Kaith, however, claimed that the "rasta roko" call had proved a major success though it did cause inconvenince to schoolgoers and other passengers on long-route buses. The two alleged that nearly 200 persons, mostly SFI leaders, had been taken into custody by the authorities. Demanding their unconditional release, the duo alleged that the police had resorted to lathicharge near Sanjauli.

Eyewitnesses, including some Chandigarh-bound passengers, talked of complete chaos at Soghi and alleged that the protesters deflated tyres of vehicles. "There was none to clear the road and restore traffic for at least four hours," said Suraj Dutta, a passenger. In Shimla itself, children going for school examinations could not reach in time because of the "rasto roko" and irate parents accused the local administration of being callous.