HYDERABAD: The protests at the University of Hyderabad over Kancha Gachibowli entered the fourth day on Wednesday with the Teachers Association, along with the Joint Action Committee, leading the agitation.
The Teachers Association on Tuesday called for an indefinite protest in the campus, responding to which hundreds of students and faculty members gathered at the Ambedkar Auditorium starting Wednesday.
Students and teachers staged a protest rally inside the campus raising slogans against the government and condemning the action of clearing the 400-acre green cover at Kancha Gachibowli.
The students’ union continued to press for its major demands — immediate withdrawal of police force and JCB deployed from the university campus, written assurance from the varsity administration to ensure that the campus land is registered under the title of the UoH, release of details of the executive committee meeting and transparency in the land-related documents. As the protests intensified, police resorted to lathi-charge, leading to scuffles at the main gate as well as East Campus, in which several students were injured.
Students condemn police ‘high-handedness’
Students condemned the police high-handedness, stating that the government was employing brute force to curb their movement.
They also held the university administration responsible for poor handling of the issue, which further escalated the tensions between the protesters and the police forces over the past couple of days.
Deva, a PhD student, said that it was “brutal” on the part of the government to use police force on students who were fighting for a cause and that many of his friends had been detained earlier by the police in an effort to suppress their voices.
Students also lamented that a curfew-like situation prevails on the campus with no external traffic allowed inside and that they were under constant vigilance.
Prajwal, another PhD student, said that entry to several departments was being restricted, and only the faculty and students belonging to specific departments were being allowed inside after verifying their identity. The protesters also criticised the lackadaisical approach of the university administration in not issuing any official stand earlier and for being passive bystanders in the police action against the students.
Speaking to TNIE, NSUI-HCU general secretary Prabhakar Singh said: “The issue could have been dealt with in a better way but the university administration failed us. They facilitated the police force and the JCB machines inside the campus.”
“The administration has still not revealed the details of the executive council meeting, which was held on March 20. It was only today the administration addressed the students for the first time as they were protesting at the admin building, stating that the government has compensated the university with a 397 acre land somewhere else,” he added.
Prabhakar also said that there was an urgent need for the campus land to be officially registered under the university’s name as some groups have turned the real problem of ecological conservation into a land grab issue.
‘Brutal’ on part of govt to use force: Students
The protesting students said that the university administration should be held responsible for poor handling of the issue, which further escalated the tensions between the protesters and the police forces over the past couple of days. Deva, a PhD student, said that it was “brutal” on the part of the government to use police force on students who were fighting for a cause and that many of his friends had been detained earlier by the police in an effort to suppress their voices. Students also lamented that a curfew-like situation prevails on the campus.
