Curfew-like situation prevailed on the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Thursday as police sealed the premises and took 16 students into preventive custody to foil their plans of holding a “beef festival”.
Tension had gripped the campus for the last few days after rival students’ organisations had announced “beef” and “pork” festivals on the campus. The campus was turned into a police fortress as additional force was deployed and barricades were erected.
The City Police also arrested BJP MlA T Raja Singh, who had planned a march to the campus to prevent the beef festival.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Chandrasekhar, who supervised the strict security arrangements, said the measures were taken to implement the court orders disallowing any food festival on the campus.
All the exit and entry points of the campus were closed since Wednesday night and no outsiders were allowed in the area. Police teams searched the Kaveri and Narmada hostels and took 16 students into custody and lodged them in the Amberpet Police Station.
Unknown miscreants pelted stones on a Road Transport Corporation bus, damaging the glass panes outside the campus.
Democratic Cultural Forum, comprising of as many as 25 leftist and Dalit students’ organisations, had planned to organise the “beef festival” on Thursday coinciding with the International Human Rights Day. They said the festival was to assert their constitutional right to food of their choice.
As a counter to this, Banjara Students Joint Action Committee called for a “pork festival” on the same day on the same campus.
On the other hand, many Hindu organisations supported by BJP MlA Raja Singh had vowed to prevent the beef festival linking it to cows and announced that they will observe cow worship programme.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Rambhupal Rao said the MlA was arrested from his residence in Goshamahal area and shifted to Shah Inayat Gunj Police Station. Talking to the media, Singh alleged that the police had arrested him deviously. “My intention was to prevent beef festival and protect cows,” he said.
The organisers of the festival, however, denied that they planned to serve cow meat in the festival. “Beef does not mean only cow meat,” said one of the student leaders associated with the festival plans.
“The KCR Government is trying to appease Muslims in view of the forthcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections by allowing the festival,” he alleged.