Students protest at Osmania University against circular banning dharnas, 20 detained

HYDERABAD: Mild tension prevailed at Osmania University (OU) here on Monday as members of various student organisations protested against a circular issued by the varsity, which banned dharnas and agitations within its departments, colleges, centers, and administrative buildings.

Activists from the ABVP and left-affiliated student groups raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the circular. Over 20 protesters were taken into preventive custody, a police official at the OU Police Station confirmed.

The agitators were detained by police personnel and transported in vehicles. In a circular issued on March 13, Osmania University prohibited staging dharnas, agitations and raising slogans within the premises of its departments, colleges, centres, and administrative buildings following recent incidents of students holding demonstrations that disrupted administrative work.

Also read ‘We’re being crushed’: Jadavpur University students demand election, accountability after minister car fiasco

The Osmania University authorities stated that these incidents have adversely affected the smooth functioning of the university, leading to delays in administrative and academic progress. On certain occasions, they have also raised security concerns, it noted. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and BRS working president K T Rama Rao on Sunday criticised the circular.

Subsequently, the university Registrar clarified that the circular does not impose a blanket ban on student protests or agitations in open spaces within the university and that only academic and administrative spaces are being protected from disruptions.