— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

Supporters of `Youth for Equality' take part in a rally at the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Medical and engineering students along with senior faculty members and intellectuals issued a call to expand the anti-reservation agitation during a rally at the Ramlila Grounds here on Saturday.

Even as the rally passed off peacefully, a young man allegedly attempted self-immolation outside the venue. The police said the man, Rishi Ranjan Gupta was not a student. He was a school dropout who sold gutka in Shahdara. The organisers of the rally distanced themselves from the incident.

Earlier, the protesters — who came from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Orissa — marched under the `Youth for Equality' banner to the Ramlila Grounds after assembling at Veer Bhumi, the samadhi of Rajiv Gandhi, in the afternoon. Many of them came in buses, while others reached the venue on foot.

Those who addressed the rally included former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha Subash Kashyap, former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation Joginder Singh, cricketer-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Director of the IIT (Madras) Prof. Indiresan and management expert Shiv Khera.

Dr. Kashyap told the gathering that the 93rd Amendment, which the UPA Government was swearing by to implement reservation, was silent on the quota issue.

"Why has the Government chosen only reservation as a means to help the educationally and socially backward," he asked.

He appealed to the medicos to ensure that patients were not inconvenienced. "The people of the country should come forward to support you so that you can take care of your duties."

Joginder Singh said the Government had "let loose a Frankenstein monster" by trying to implement reservation.

Navjot Sidhu extended support to the students' cause, which he said was on the "side of truth." He said he was not totally against reservation. "It is not the policy, but the intention behind such policies which are questionable," he said.

Students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) will join their counterparts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on a hunger strike from Monday. Students in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana are already on hunger strike in their respective colleges and more are likely to join from Monday.

The faculty of IIT, Kanpur, sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him not to implement reservation. In such an eventuality, 125 faculty members from the institute threatened to resign en masse.

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