LUCKNOW, July 31 -- Hundreds of students and youth on Thursday staged a demonstration at 1090 Crossing here under the banner of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha-the youth wing of the Samajwadi Party-in support of their several demands related to higher education in Uttar Pradesh. The protesters demanded an immediate rollback of recent fee hike in state universities, restoration of student union elections, revocation of expulsion orders and heavy fines allegedly imposed on 30 Dalit students of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow, and a stay on the demolition of 38 buildings at Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. They also raised concerns over recurring incidents of alleged paper leaks. Led by Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha state chief Vineet Kushwaha, the demonstrators planned to march to Jan Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the governor but were stopped. Police detained the protesters and shifted them to Eco Garden. Addressing the protestors, Kushwaha criticised the the state government, alleging that successive fee increases have made higher education unaffordable for students from economically weaker sections, including farmers, labourers, Dalits, backward classes, minorities and the middle class. "Education is the bedrock of democracy and should not be turned into a financial burden," he said. Kushwaha also highlighted the long-pending demand for student union elections, stating that their absence has weakened democratic ethos in universities. He urged the authorities to opt for a dialogue and fair inquiry instead of expulsions and called for protecting students' academic future at Jauhar University....