Demanding the police for providing security to students, the ABVP has called for Osmania University bandh today. It may be recalled that the beef festival that took place on the campus premises on Sunday night turned violent when a group of students opposed the idea of including beef in the hostel menu. The miscreants who created the tense atmosphere pelted stones at the gathering and tried to obstruct the meeting. The police opened tear gas to control the mob and the miscreants rained stones at streetlights turning the campus pitch dark. Even a media vehicle that was found on the campus was set on fire by miscreants

Notably, a few dalit unions announced last month that they would be holding beef festival in April. “We decided to conduct the festival in the month of April specifically as it marks the birth anniversaries of our ideologues including Dr BR Ambedkar , Jyotiba Phule and Babu Jagjivan Ram ,” said Sudarshan, who is part of the organizing committee and also a research scholar at the university.  “Beef is a basic Dalit food, and we want this upper caste hostility towards it to end,” said Kancha Ilaiah, a Dalit ideologue.

Meanwhile, ABVP has said that it had no role in the recent clashes at the campus and called for a bandh for student protection. (Phani)