HYDERABAD: Six students of Hyderabad University affiliated to a left-wing student organisation were detained at the campus over the screening of a controversial documentary. This led to a fresh protest on the campus.
The six students belonging to All India Students Association(AISA) and the Students Federation of India(SFI) were taken into custody and the documentary screening at Sociology department's lecture hall was stalled by police who stormed the campus at around 3 pm.
The police had reportedly received a complaint from the varsity's administration that there was no requisite permission accorded to conduct a screening.
The students claimed that they had sought and were accorded permission by the UoH administration to screen the movie 'Raam Ke Naam’ by Anand Patwardhan, but later police were called in to stall the screening. The police have also seized the laptop of a student, said students who were at the screening.
Following the incident, the students staged protest against the detention, demanding their immediate release.
A statement issued by the AISA said that though initially written permission had been granted by the Sociology department, they were not allowed to screen the movie in the new seminar hall in social sciences building on the grounds that the hall would not be given to any students organisation or affiliated students' wings.
Later, students were told that they could screen it in the film in the first year Sociology lecture hall. “ The policemen came in brandishing their authority, confiscated the laptop of a student. When students protested, a few of them were detained,” read the statement.
A section of students also took to social media to vent their anger and criticise the current Student Union for failing to protect the interests of the student community.
The students were later let off by the police.
"As the students had no permission from University authorities to screen the film, they were brought to the police station and counselled in the presence of their professors. As it was found that the students had attempted to such activities in the recent past also, they were told not to involve in any activities which may disturb the atmosphere," said police officials from Cyberabad.