The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice (UoH) released a statement on its Facebook page on Wednesday, condemning the “brutal physical and sexual assaults unleashed by the police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and security personnel, acting upon the orders of the Central and state government, upon students and teachers at the University of Hyderabad on 22nd March.”
The statement alleges that security personnel beat students and hurled abuses upon them, and that women students were beaten and manhandled by male police personnel.
This is a summary of the statement:
- After the forcible eviction from the VC’s lodge compound, the police chased us for another 2 km, and grabbed and arrested students. Students suffered grievous injuries and were taken to hospitals.
- Hostels were searched as police appeared to have a pre-determined list of students and faculty they were trying to pick up, which media have said was a list directly supplied by the Podile Apparao.
- 36 students including 3 professors were picked up yesterday around 5 pm, they were brutally beaten in a police van, and detained in unknown locations all night. We have some information now that they were detained in Miyapur and Narsing police stations.
- The university was functioning smoothly after Prof. Periaswamy took charge as the VC and Vipin Srivastava went on leave. On 23rd the academic council meeting was scheduled where the in-charge VC Prof. Periaswamy was going to undertake 3 urgent agendas in the light of what happened in the university.
1. Setting up of anti-discrimination cell in the university.
2. Inclusion of SC/ST and women representatives in all official university committees mandatorily.
3. Increase of non-net fellowships for research scholars from 8 thousand to 25 thousand/month.
Apparao took charge as the VC without any prior intimation to faculty and the in-charge VC and postponed the Academic council meeting on the pretext of Holi.
- He did so without any prior intimation to the student or faculty community, knowing full well that his arrival on campus would lead to a law-and-order situation.