Anti-UGC protests rock Delhi, over 500 detained

New Delhi: Thousands of general category students and activists protested in New Delhi and across India on Sunday against the University Grants Commission's Equity Regulations 2026, calling the rules a "black law" and seeking their permanent withdrawal.

The protests, held on International Women's Day, began with planned gatherings at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan and Jantar Mantar and later spread to Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Organisers, including NCM India Council for Men Affairs, Savarna Sena and Kali Sena, alleged that the regulations protect only Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes students while leaving general category students exposed to harassment.

Protesters raised slogans such as "UGC Kala Kanoon Wapas Lo" as videos on social media showed barricades and heavy police deployment in parts of Delhi.

The demonstrators said the rules, notified on January 13, ignored merit and created fear through vague definitions of caste-based discrimination.

The protests came despite the Supreme Court staying the regulations on January 29 after observing that the provisions were vague and open to misuse.

General category groups said the court stay was temporary and demanded that the rules be scrapped before the next hearing on March 19.

One organiser said in a widely circulated video that the issue was not limited to one set of rules but concerned the future of students facing what he called reverse discrimination.

Police in Delhi and other states said they acted to prevent large gatherings because of law and order concerns and VVIP movement.

Eyewitness accounts on X described tense but largely peaceful scenes, with some groups moving their protests to police stations after detentions.

The regulations were introduced in the name of strengthening anti-discrimination mechanisms in higher education institutions following Supreme Court observations over the years.

General category groups, however, said the rules shifted the burden unfairly and did not contain safeguards against false complaints.

As protests continued into the evening, organisers claimed more than 500 people had been detained across the country.

The agitation has revived a campus debate that has been building since January and increased pressure on the government to clarify its stand on caste equity in education.