HYDERABAD:Even as students of the University of Hyderabad organised a public meeting on Tuesday opposing the increasing presence of police on the campus and ‘moral policing’ by them, deputy commissioner of police (Madhapur) Kartikeya justified their presence.
In a press note released on Tuesday, Gender Sensitivity and Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) of UoH said that police were indulging in ‘moral policing’ in the name of ‘security’.
However, Kartikeya, speaking to Express, said nothing such as ‘moral policing’ had come to his notice. “There is no police presence except that a patrol vehicle passes through the campus,” Kartikeya said. But a student differs. “Boys and girls are questioned when seen moving about on the campus at night.
This situation creates fear in the minds of students. It is a residential campus. Students go out at night to have food or visit the library. Even if I want to go out of my room for a break, my freedom should not be curbed,” said a female student.
Speaking at the meeting, K Laxminarayana, president, UoH Teachers Association, said the university was a space for debate and discussion, and they did not need external police as they had internal mechanisms to deal with conflicts.
“It cannot be the case that the administration is unaware of the presence of police. In the light of the current privatisation of university and educational spaces, the state and university jointly anticipate and expect protests from the affected student communities which is why they are in the process of institutionalising police presence on campus. Instead, the affected students should be heard and the state should end privatisation of education,” he said.