Hyderabad: The Osmania University, which was once the centre of protests, is discouraging its 54 student union bodies from holding protests on issues other than those concerning the university.
“The campus was used as a forum to flag political issues, thus raising tensions. We have been requesting students from time to time not to create law and order issues. Student unions have been very cooperative,” said ACP, Kacheguda, J. Narsaiah.
OU inspector G. Jagan said, “We held meeting with all 54 student union bodies and asked them to abstain from burning effigies and coming out on the streets. Peace has prevailed since February.”
Students had a different view. ABVP activist Kadiyam Raju called it “emergency era policing”. He said, “They are keeping a check and not giving us permissions to hold dharnas and public meetings.”
While Mr Narasiah said the campus is not a place for effigy burning, Mr Raju argued that they should be allowed to do it. “The atmosphere since January is very serious and restrictive. The real administrator is the police,” he said.
Mr R.L. Murthy, state vice-president of Students Federation of India, said, “The police immediately arrests students and the equation is not friendly.” He said it was tough to get permission to express concerns by way of dharnas and protests.
There are a few issues like outsiders having access to the campus and refusal of ex-students to vacate the university. These issues were not under the purview of the police, Mr Narsaiah said.
