The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) campus witnessed dramatic scenes on Monday, November 6, as the Osmania University police forcefully detained over 20 students who were protesting at the main gate. A large number of students had gathered at the campus to protest continued apathy by the administration towards students' concerns and “extremely repressive” measures employed to curb dissent on campus.
The student community of EFLU had begun an indefinite hunger strike around 1 pm on Monday, demanding justice for a student, who was sexually assaulted on the campus on the night of October 18. Holding placards that said “VC your time’s up”, they called for the resignation of the Vice Chancellor and removal of the Proctorial Board.
The Proctor T Samson had recently blamed students for creating unrest in the campus and an FIR was filed against the students based on this complaint. While no one has been arrested for the sexual assault, the university administration has continuously tried to shift the blame on students and a handful of teachers for disrupting the campus.
The students who were detained were not only from EFLU but there were also students from Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and Osmania University, who had joined the protests around 2 pm outside the main gate of the campus. The security personnels deployed at EFLU were not allowing anyone, including the media to get inside the campus.
Around 2 pm, the Proctor T Samson came and addressed the students and said that the administration was not going to approve any of their demands and asked the students to call off their protest. When the students refused to budge, the police resorted to forcefully moving them and detaining them.
The students continued to chant slogans “inquilab zindabad” and “EFLU admin shame shame” as they were moved into police vehicles.
Even when several students tried to record the visuals of what was happening, the police tried to stop them and even took away the mobile phones.
The hunger strike was called after the Vice Chancellor Professor E Suresh Kumar sent a letter to the students asking them to protect the University’s image as a reputed institution. In his letter, he claimed that a few dissident outsiders are waiting for an opportunity to create disturbance in the campus. Students alleged that the letter was a way of the administration evading responsibility and taking no action.