UoH: Student groups hold protests, parties in political slugfest over land issue

HYDERABAD: Students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Tuesday continued protests against the Telangana government's plans to develop the 400-acre land parcel bordering the varsity land, while the ruling Congress and opposition BJP and BRS were engaged in a political slugfest over the issue. The students gathered at the main gate of the institution, popularly known as Hyderabad Central University (HCU), and raised slogans against the Congress government, amid heavy police deployment.

The University of Hyderabad Students’ Union (UoHSU) and other unions and parties aligned with it and also the ABVP held separate protests at the university. UoHSU president Umesh Ambedkar told PTI that the protest at the main gate that began in the morning as part of the indefinite call would continue.

The union also boycotted classes on Tuesday, he said. He said the union demands removal of police personnel and earth-moving machinery from the campus.

Also read University of Hyderabad denies land demarcation, will request Telangana Govt to ‘conserve’ environment

Anil, president of ABVP in the UoH, said the 400 acres of land is home to diverse flora and fauna, including peacocks, deer, 230 bird varieties and also endangered species. ABVP would continue the fight to protect the ecosystem and to teach a lesson to the Congress government, he told PTI Videos.

State Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, both alumni of UoH, asserted that the government has not taken even an inch of the university's land. Sridhar Babu said the BRS and BJP should stop their false campaign on the issue.

Education minister assures 'appropriate cooperation'

Meanwhile, BJP MPs from Telangana, led by Union Coal and Mines Minister and the party's state unit president G Kishan Reddy, met Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi and sought his intervention in the issue. Pradhan assured them of "appropriate cooperation". The delegation sought "central govt’s intervention for protecting 400 acres of ecologically-sensitive and forested land in Kancha Gachibowli, Hyderabad", Pradhan said.

"The green space near University of Hyderabad is a carbon sink and home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Have assured Hon’ble MPs of appropriate cooperation in this regard," Pradhan said in a post on social media platform 'X'. Sridhar Babu alleged that some individuals and associations affiliated to some parties are misleading people with false information and trying to create hurdles to the government's work.

As the university had no legal ownership rights until now over a single acre of land alloted, the government, at a recent meeting with university officials, assured them that the it will address the long-pending issue and provide legal ownership rights to the university, he said. He assured that natural rock formations, lakes and the famous mushroom rock in the land parcel would be safeguarded.

He asserted that the present Congress regime got the government's ownership over the 400 acres of land confirmed following a protracted legal battle. Vikramarka said the 400 acres of land was allotted to a private company during the TDP regime in 2004 in undivided Andhra Pradesh but the allotment was cancelled in 2006 by the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government as the firm did not commence work.

Present Congress govt ensured land remains with govt

The company approached the courts against the cancellation and the previous BRS regime did not take steps to win the legal battle despite being in power for 10 years, he alleged. The present Congress government ensured that the valuable land remains with the government, he said. He asserted that development and job creation through promotion of investments is the priority for the government. State Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy alleged that the relationship between the two opposition parties is like a "fevicol bond".

BRS Working President K T Rama Rao attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the state government not allowing BRS to visit the UoH. He said Gandhi had come to UoH not once but twice within a month during the previous BRS regime to protest on the Rohith Vemula issue. The BRS government had then ensured security and protection to Gandhi, Rao said. "Now that Congress Govt is at the helm of the state, they refuse to allow us anywhere near Hyderabad Central University and deploy police to prevent us !!," he said. "Why this hypocrisy Rahul Ji? What is your Govt trying to hide from the world?," Rao said.

Earlier in the morning, the BJP held protests over the issue. BJP MLAs Payala Shankar and others, who were scheduled to visit the UoH, were detained by the police at MLAs quarters in the city. They were later released. BJP MLA A Maheshwar Reddy told PTI that he was not permitted to step out of his residence by the police. Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), youth wing of the BJP and CPI (M) were taken into preventive custody by the police when they tried to hold a protest at the main gate of the UoH. Similarly, members of BRSV and other students' organisations raised slogans at the Osmania University campus here on Tuesday against the Congress government.