India: Youth dies of injuries from protest march

By Cheena Kapoor

NEW DELHI (AA) – A member of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) who was allegedly beaten by the police during a peaceful march succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

Maidul Islam Midda, 31, along with over 30,000 youth from the DYFI and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), on Feb. 11 marched to the secretariat office in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, with a set of demands including quality education and employment.

“Over 400 of our members were brutally beaten and tear-gassed by the police. The march was aimed only at demanding employment because the state has not seen any recruitment in the last decade,” DYFI leader Shatarup Ghosh told Anadolu Agency.

The SFI’s central executive committee also condemned the killing of Midda on social media.

“The march was demanding employment and education, which are the basic rights of youth and students. The government’s police resorted to mindless violence, killing one comrade and injuring hundreds of youths,” the group tweeted.

The death of the young activist has led to anger and rage among students across the country.

A student wing of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi has announced a demonstration in the capital on Tuesday “against the deteriorating democratic culture of West Bengal and demanding justice for the victims.”

Photos and videos of police attacks on young people have been going viral on social media.

According to local outlet News18, the Kolkata police have launched an investigation into the death of Midda and sent his body to a local hospital for post-mortem.

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