Protests erupted in Osmania University, Telangana following the shift in the venue of 105th Indian Science Congress, originally proposed to be held there, to Manipur University in Imphal.
Students from the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protested in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s chamber and raised slogans, asking him to step down. They alleged that the VC was inefficient for failing to hold the prestigious conference in the varsity.
The students were later detained by the police.
Speaking to TNM, ABVP Hyderabad city secretary Javvayi Dileep alleged that the venue of the Congress was deliberately changed by the Vice Chancellor S Ramachandram to please Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao.
He accused the chief minister of conspiring with the VC to change the venue from OU. “After being humiliated at the hands of OU students, when he (CM) wasn’t allowed to partake in the centenary celebrations of the university, KCR didn’t want OU to attain further glory.”
“Either the VC is extremely inefficient or it’s a ploy by KCR to disrupt the event,” he remarked.
Stating that no students’ groups or organisations were against the Indian Science Congress being held in the university, Dileep added, “When the government was able to organise World Telugu Conference and Global Summit so efficiently, couldn’t it ensure the same for the Congress? If there is any security threat, why not deploy additional security?”
The ABVP has also called for a statewide shutdown across universities on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) released a circular about the change in the venue, but did not announce the dates of the event. ISCA stated that the delegates need to re-register for the event, and said the already registered members would be refunded by Osmania University.
Although Osmania University was the original venue for the Congress to be held from January 3-7, the event was postponed indefinitely by the varsity citing security concerns.
OU Registrar Ch Gopal Reddy had earlier told TNM that they had to postpone the event after receiving ‘intelligence inputs’ from security agencies. It is rumoured that the Congress had to be postponed due to unrest in the campus following the death of a first-year student, who committed suicide in the campus hostel.