Areport substantiated by photographs published in Thursday's issue of this paper shows how a woman in her 90s was forced to abandon her transport and walk along a road adjacent to the Jagannath University in the old part of the city. She as well as others passing through the road are facing this kind of harassment because the students of the university have blocked the road to press their demand to recover their dormitories, which they allege are now being illegally possessed.
So for more than three weeks that this student agitation has been on, the public using the roads adjacent to the university have been going through this ordeal. We are flabbergasted. Why are the agitating students punishing common people who are no party to the conflict? And are not the students through their highhanded behaviour only alienating the public, who otherwise might have been sympathetic to their cause?
Not only have the students blocked the public's movement on the road, they have also forcibly entered a nearby plot of land leased by Samabay Banks and burnt down shops trading in old clothes.
The education minister is learnt to have been looking into the students' demands and has formed a committee headed by a local MP to sort out the matter in a month. The students should wait to see the outcome. They cannot hope to achieve anything by being impatient and causing inconvenience to others through rowdy behaviour.