Ludhiana, May 29 -- The protest against the construction of a parking lot at the playground of Government College for Girls turned into a full-blown confrontation on Wednesday, as hundreds of students - backed by the Punjab Students Union (PSU) - uprooted pillars installed by the Shri Durga Mata Mandir Trust and locked the college gates from the inside, blocking access to outsiders.

The project, funded by the temple's charitable trust to accommodate parking for devotees, has triggered outrage among students, who allege that over 6,000 square yards of their playground - nearly one-third of the usable campus space - has been taken over without formal approval.

Students Sukhpreet Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur and Manpreet Kaur Mansali stated that t...