zzzzzzTHE central executive committee of the Students’ Federation of India has, in a press statement issued on July 6, condemned the incidents of brutal police lathicharge against the students who were protesting on different issues related to education in Jodhpur of Rajasthan and in various parts of Kerala. The statement underlined that July 6 was the third day of the ongoing hunger strike in Rajasthan demanding proper reimbursement of scholarship, linking scholarship to inflation and better infrastructure in the hostels. This movement is organised under the banner of ‘Chhatravritti Bachao, Chhatravaas Bachao andolan’ (Save Scholarships, Save Hostels movement) and has attracted wide support from the students in the district. More than 25 students were injured in the indiscriminate lathicharge on SFI activists gathered in front of Jodhpur district collectorate. SFI Rajasthan vice-president Kishan Khuriwal and Jodhpur district secretary HR Bhati were specially targeted in the police lathicharge. SFI has launched a state wide protest following the delay in distributing the textbooks in government schools of Kerala. This is the latest example of the deliberate efforts made by the present Congress led UDF government in Kerala to destroy the public education of the state. Hundreds of students rallied behind the banner of SFI, marching towards different district collectorates and to the state secretariat in Trivandrum, on July 6. The police brutally attacked the protesters in Trivandrum, Palakkad and Kozhikode. Hundreds of students including SFI state joint secretaries R Rahul, Aswanth and vice president Prathin Raj Krishna were seriously injured in the lathicharges at different places. The students took to streets as the education department is not able to hold even the exams at proper time due to the criminal delay in the distribution of school textbooks in Kerala. The fund cuts in various social welfare programmes effected by the BJP-led government at the centre and various state governments are creating havoc in the daily life of various sections of society. SFI has demanded proper action against the police officers who led the ruthless attacks on democratically protesting students. It has also urged the authorities to immediately resolve the issues of the students in both the states.