70 Hurt in India in Street Clash Over Job Quotas
At least 55 students and 15 policemen were injured Thursday in one of several clashes during a general strike to protest job quotas for low-caste Hindus, police said.
Police fired tear gas shells and attacked with three-foot bamboo canes to disperse stone-throwing students at Delhi University.
“The street battles . . . turned the area into a virtual battlefield,” United News of India reported.
Violence also was reported in neighboring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where at least 300 protesters were arrested for breach of peace, the news agency said.
About 280 people in New Delhi were arrested Thursday when they hurled stones at government-run buses and deflated tires, a police official said. About 100 buses were reported damaged.
At least 14 people have been killed in street protests since Prime Minister V. P. Singh announced on Aug. 7 that 49% of government jobs would be reserved for lower castes, up from 27%. The government employs 18 million people, and a white-collar job is coveted by graduating students.
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