Mild tension at UoH: Students detained, released for protesting Telangana government land development plan

NEW DELHI: Mild tension prevailed at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus on Sunday as police detained several students protesting after earth-moving machines were allegedly brought in to clear a land parcel. The protesting students were released late on Sunday. The Telangana government plans to develop the land, including setting up an IT park. The 400-acre land parcel at Kancha Gachibowli borders UoH. Some university students and others oppose the reported proposal to auction the land, citing environmental conservation concerns.

The students said that upon noticing "bulldozers" at the site, they rushed there. Some climbed onto the machines, raised slogans against the police, and demanded that they "go back." They were detained during the protest. A total of 53 students were taken into preventive custody and later they were released, a police official said. The protesting students obstructed the government officials while they were doing their work, the official said, adding some of the protesters also assaulted police personnel. Cases will be booked against them, he said.

The University of Hyderabad Students’ Union (UoHSU) in a release condemned the police action and detention of the protesting students and demanded that all those detained be immediately released. According to the UoHSU, after receiving information regarding the deployment of a police force and earthmovers in the East Campus of the UoH on Sunday, the Students' Union, along with members of the Joint Action Committee organised a peaceful rally towards the area. The UoHSU alleged that the earthmovers were brought in to clear the forest land, "raising serious concerns about the ecological and territorial integrity of the campus".

Students detained during protest

As students exercised their democratic right to protest, police personnel resorted to forceful detentions, "manhandling" several students and more than 50 students were taken into custody, the UoHSU release claimed. A Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising the Students' Union, Teachers' Association, Workers Union and Non-Teaching Employees Union, was earlier formed to pursue legal avenues to challenge the land auction while urging the university administration to take a definitive stand on the issue, it said.

UoHSU president Umesh Ambedkar said the students gathered inside the university silently on Sunday evening waiting for the release of those detained. The plan is to go outside the university in protest if they are not released. He indicated that they would go back to their rooms once the detained students arrive. However, they are likely to continue their protest on Monday. BRS leaders, including MLC-elect Sravan Dasoju, went to the Madhapur police station where the detained students are lodged. The BRS leaders demanded the release of the students.

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BRS said 28 UoH students were released late on Sunday. Under the banner of UoHSU, students had earlier staged protests on March 13 and 29, demanding that the government halt the reported plan to auction the land and register it in the university's name. Meanwhile, the opposition BRS criticised the ruling Congress over the police action, invoking Rahul Gandhi's "Mohabbat ki Dukaan" slogan. "The Congress’s 'Mohabbat ki Dukaan' has now reached Hyderabad Central University. Students protesting against the Congress government's decision to sell off 400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli, along with journalists, were arrested by the Telangana Police," the BRS said in a post on 'X'.

BRS slams Congress over police action

"Rahul Gandhi goes around holding a copy of the Constitution and 'preaching', but his government is doing exactly the opposite, the party alleged. "Mohabbat ki dukaan nahi, ye Congress dhoke ka bazaar hai" (This is not a shop of love but a market of deception by Congress)," the BRS added. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy recently alleged in the Assembly that university students were being provoked and that PILs were being indirectly filed in courts regarding the planned development of the land.

Observing that the land is located in the Financial District within the city's IT hub, he stated that the government's goal is to promote investment, IT parks, and large-scale employment. He maintained that the land parcel has no connection to the university. However, students insist that the land includes the Mushroom Rock area near UoH's East Campus. A UoH official stated earlier that the land has been owned by the state government since 1974 and was never transferred to the university.