Select schools in Hapur, Ghaziabad to remain closed tomorrow

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Apr. 2 (ANI): In the wake of protests that erupted in the country over a proposal to dilute the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, schools in Hapur and Ghaziabad will remain shut on Tuesday.

However, those schools conducting board examinations in the two cities would remain open.

Meanwhile, schools in Agra will also remain closed, except those conducting board examinations.

Protests erupted in different parts of the country against the Supreme Court ruling, which called for a dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Earlier in the day, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad confirmed that the government filed a comprehensive petition which would be presented before the top court by senior lawyers. He further said the government didn't agree with the SC's ruling and that there was no intention of changing the provision of reservation for minorities.

Even after the Centre's review petition in the matter, a storm of outrage seized many parts of the country, including Bihar, Punjab, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, which saw angry protestors resorting to the destruction of private and public property to send their message of disapproval to the legislature and judiciary.

In Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Law and Order Praveen Kumar informed that one person was killed and 448 people were detained amid the nationwide bandh called by several Dalits outfits over the dilution of the Act.

Apart from this, nearly 40 people, including police personnel, the DIG said, were injured as protests turned violent.

"There will be an inquiry on people spreading rumours on Social Media. We have detained 448 people for legal action. Only 10 percent of the state was disrupted, there was peace in 90 percent of the area," he added.

Meanwhile, six people lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh and one in Rajasthan. (ANI)