Six Eflu Students Arrested After Palestine March Turned Chaotic
Noora said the police used excessive force and verbally abused female students.
Hyderabad: Police have registered a case against six students of the English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu), including union leaders, under non-bailable sections of the BNS after a Palestine solidarity march which they conducted on campus turned chaotic late Monday evening.
The FIR, filed by the Osmania University police, names students’ union Joint Secretary Noora, who is also a member of the Fraternity Movement national executive committee, and Shaheen Ahmed, national secretary of the Fraternity Movement. They were charged under Sections 132, 196, and 221 read with Section 190 of the BNS for “supporting another country” and “defaming India.”
The students said the march was peaceful until members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) entered the venue, allegedly tore posters, stamped on keffiyehs, and assaulted protesters. “The police stood by while ABVP members attacked us,” said Shaheen Ahmed, adding that women leaders were also manhandled. “Even after the violence, the FIR names only student organisers.”
Noora said the police used excessive force and verbally abused female students. “They dragged one student by her scarf and pointed guns at us,” she said, calling the charges “politically motivated.”
The Eflu administration, in a statement, said the march had been denied permission as it was “against national interests.” Officials claimed they had counselled students not to proceed and called the police only when the gathering defied instructions. The administration has ordered an internal inquiry and urged calm.
The Fraternity Movement condemned what it called “collusion between the administration and ABVP-backed groups,” demanding the withdrawal of the FIR and an independent investigation. Student organisations across Hyderabad have also voiced concern over the “criminalisation of peaceful campus dissent.”
