HYDERABAD: Cyberabad police registered a case under Section 170 of the BNSS against 54 students of the University of Hyderabad for “illegally” protesting against the government in the Kancha Gachibowli land issue on March 30.
These 54 students were detained earlier from the east campus of the university.
According to the FIR, the students were detained to prevent them from committing “cognizable offences during their protest” against the government’s decision to auction the land adjacent to the UoH at Kancha Gachibowli.
However, the students expressed shock at the development. “This is a sheer betrayal by the government when it has been saying that all FIRs against students will be withdrawn. We are shocked to know that they registered an FIR against us. We are still discussing the legal recourse and other options. We might also approach the deputy chief minister in this regard,” one of the students named in the FIR told TNIE.
The students claimed that anyone who went to the east campus on March 30, when the JCBs rolled in to see what was going on — was detained. Later, the police started detaining all those in sight, despite the repeated pleas by the students that they had only come to see what was happening.
Day after Supreme Court relief, students stage rally
Meanwhile, asserting that their fight would continue “as long as the government attempts to curb their freedom and continues its atrocities”, students at the University of Hyderabad took out a rally on Friday on the campus.
Friday’s rally, led by the Ambedkar Students Association and Students Union, started late in the evening in which hundreds of students raised slogans for their rights.
Their major demands include the release of all detained students, withdrawal of all FIRs on students, civil society groups and activists and removal of all police camps from the campus. The students also demanded that the UoH administration file a petition in the high court claiming ownership of the 400 acres and protection of the wildlife in that parcel of land.